Brookdale Partners With Martin Luther Health Training School in Ghana

While the Ebola crisis has recently shed light on the importance of public health training and specialized medicine, Dr. Owusu Achaw Duah has been trying to make a difference in West Africa for years.
Duah founded the Kings Nursing and Allied Health College in Accra, Ghana and its subsidiary, the Martin Luther Health Training School (MLHTS), to help provide a broader range of health services to his people. Offering training in nursing and medical lab technology, the three-year college has reached hundreds of students from within Ghana and from neighboring nations like Nigeria over the past eight years.
But to expand further, and to start offering training in much-needed allied health specialties such as radiology, respiratory therapy, health information technology and environmental health, Duah realized he needed help. He reached out to Kwadwo Amo, an acquaintance and a Brookdale radiology graduate, who put him in touch with Professor Terry Konn. Over the course of a few emails, a partnership was born.
On Oct. 9, Duah and MLHTS Director of Research Dr. Wilfred Agenyikey visited the Lincroft campus, touring labs and meeting with faculty from a wide range of academic divisions.
During a roundtable discussion in MAS – the heart of Brookdale’s allied health and nursing programs – Duah explained what he hoped to gain from a collaboration with Brookdale.
“We are a private initiative, and we are very new. We don’t have mentors. We don’t have anybody to help us,” said Duah, a pathologist who also served in the Ghanaian parliament for many years.
“The government sees us as competitors and doesn’t give us much help. So we are looking for people who have experience and can show us what is happening on this side of the world.”
In a country where many still rely on traditional medicine and most health care is provided by doctors, there is little established curriculum and few training facilities for allied health specialties. Brookdale’s faculty, who have been providing such services at a high level for many years, said they were more than willing to help.
Almost immediately, professors and instructors offered to share lesson plans, teaching strategies, resources and even supplies with Duah’s school. Some faculty offered to record guided overviews of their subjects or lesson plans, and others offered to start donation drives for laptops, teaching software and other necessary items.
Konn, a founding member of Brookdale’s Global Citizenship Council, said volunteers will also be travelling to Ghana in 2016 to work with MLHTS faculty and help them adopt Brookdale’s highly effective “competency-based” teaching methods.
“Seeing the labs today opened their eyes,” Konn said. “They got to see our resources, but also how we teach. They’ll also benefit from our “pure sciences,” like biology and physics, as they are trying to organize their general education requirements as well.”
Duah, meeting with Brookdale President Dr. Maureen Murphy later in the day, offered some of his own faculty as visiting lecturers at Brookdale to share their expertise on tropical diseases, African culture, history, traditional medicine and other topics of interest.
“It’s very exciting,” Murphy said. “We are honored to have you here and we are looking forward to our collaboration. We have a lot to learn from you as well.”
Murphy, who raised the Ghanaian flag in her office to mark the occasion, presented Duah with a personalized gift on behalf of the college
“It’s a very good beginning,” said Duah. “If I am trying to do something for my people, I want to do it the right way. I don’t care how long it takes. So we are happy to have you as our partner, and as our mentors.”
Participating in the roundtable discussion were: Nancy Kegelman, dean of academic affairs; Richard Pfeffer, dean of enrollment development and student affairs; Janice Thomas, director of Brookdale’s International Center; Jayne Edman, dean of health sciences and sciences; Mary Ehret, director of nursing; Terry Konn; Isaac Kanu, anthropology; Tom Berke, chemistry; Caroline Calgero, sociology; Margo Wolfson, biology; Raj Wesley, psychology; Helen Heinmets, nursing; Shahin Pirzad, chemistry; Sheri Stanford, English; Kathy Taggart, radiation technology; Diane Booker, nursing; and Maureen Dellocono, health information technology program.