Kumasi, Sept 4, GNA - The College of Health Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), is collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH), to develop peripheral teaching sites to help extend the training of medical and other health science students to district hospitals.

The initiative, dubbed "Network of Teaching Sites Programme" is primarily designed to increase the facilities available for clinical training of students, to ease the congestion of clinical teaching at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH).

Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, out-going Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, noted that the initiative had become necessary, as there was the need to strengthen the philosophy of community-oriented training for enhanced healthcare delivery.

Already, the College had made contacts with some District Hospitals for the smooth take-off of the programme. Professor Adarkwa was speaking at the 17th Oath Swearing and Induction Ceremony of the KNUST School of Medical Sciences (SMS) in Kumasi on Saturday.

The ceremony saw the passing out of 115 new medical graduates, consisting of 58 females.

This brings to 1, 513 the number of medical doctors trained so far by the SMS since 1982 and is also the first time the female to male ratio of doctors produced was in favour of the former. The Vice-Chancellor noted that the SMS was working towards establishing a clinical skills and simulation laboratory in the premises of the students' hostel at KATH, to teach them basic clinical skills as a means of improving overall clinical training.

In addition, approval had also been given for the School to run a parallel Bachelor of Science Programme in Human Biology. Professor Adarkwa said this puts the KNUST in a better position to admit more students to be trained as medical doctors. Dr Kofi Adadey, Chairman of the Ghana Medical and Dental Council, commended the newly- qualified doctors for their hard work and urged them to at all times, abide by the Hippocratic Oath, in their work for quality healthcare. 5 Sept. 10