Airtel and UCC Medical School celebrate 1st anniversary of the commissioning of ultra modern Clinical Teaching Centre
Airtel Ghana and the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences are celebrating the 1st anniversary of the commissioning of the ultra modern purpose-built Clinical Teaching Centre which was facilitated by the government of Ghana with funds from Airtel.
The Clinical Teaching Centre comprising of the Lecture Premises, three (3) Students Pavilions and 13 offices for students and staff of the school which was commissioned in 2011 by the late President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency John Evans Atta Mills and the CEO (International) & Joint Managing Director for Bharti Airtel Ltd., Manoj Kohli, at a short ceremony in Cape Coast is living up to expectations as the best of its kind so far.
The disciplines being run at the Facility are Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Child Health, Obstetrics/Gynecology. These disciplines have sub-specialties such as Ear, Nose and Throat, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, Medical Imaging, Anesthesia and Pain Management, Psychiatry and Orthopedics. 307 students admitted for the 2012/2013 academic year and their lecturers will have the pleasure to use the Facility.
Before the Facility was constructed, lectures were being held at the school of medical sciences academic block which is a couple of kilometers away from the Central Regional hospital where clinicals are undertaken and thereby adding distance to the already stressful medical school programme. Furthermore, the few rooms available in the hospital that the medical students could use for lectures or relaxation had to be shared with hospital staff which came with its own challenges. With the construction of their own Facility which is walking distance from the hospital, students can now study in a conducive environment. Commenting on the Facility, final year medical student John Nana Nkrumah who hails from Kumasi in the Ashanti region stated that the Facility has given them a lot of room to study, relax and attend lectures on time. Internet facility powered by Airtel’s 3.75 G service is a welcome addition to the learning resources. “This facility has made us feel like medical students” he added. John is planning to specialize in urology once he graduates.
Another student, Kojo Arhin who is a level 400 student this reporter spoke to said that the Facility was great for the lecture halls were not too crowded; he loved the library and he felt very relaxed any time he came there to study or attend lectures.
According to the Dean of the University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences, Prof. Harold S. Amonoo-Kuofi, the first batch of students comprising of 25 males and 17 females will be graduating at the end of the academic year in 2013. They will be posted across the country to address the unmet need of the various communities. Unable to hide his satisfaction with progress so far, Prof, added that the Facility was the first of its kind in any medical school in Ghana and that he was proud to be heading a medical school with such state of the art facilities. Indeed, he believes that having the Facility and the soon to be commissioned two-storey diagnostics centre also funded by Airtel were instrumental in advancing the plans to upgrade the Central Regional hospital to that of a teaching hospital. The diagnostics centre would be equipped with the latest medical facilities and will be a one-stop centre for carrying out the most sophisticated diagnostic tests on patients. It is expected to provide the needed diagnostic services not just for people in the Central Region of Ghana but also for all the surrounding communities as far as the Western Region and beyond.
Explaining why Airtel got involved in the project, Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah stated that being a force for good was a way of fulfilling one of the company’s core values of creating positive impact in the communities we operate. He was pleased that a year on, the Facility was being fully used for the purpose it was built.