Accra , Nov. 26, GNA - The University of Ghana Medical School on Saturday launched its 50th anniversary with a commitment to pursue excellence in the training of medical personnel to provide competent and efficient healthcare.

The facility has so far trained 2,526 doctors who are world acclaimed and has also introduced a Graduate Entry Programme to train more doctors in line with the changing paradigm in medical education, says Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Professor Ernest Ayeetey

It was on the theme,” 50 years of Medical education in Ghana; Successes, Challenges and Future prospects.”

The Vice Chancellor said after 50 years of medical education, the school and its constituent institutions of the College of Health Sciences were still in the same facility, an arrangement that was supposed to be temporary and noted that one of his visions was to ensure that the university’s age long dream to re-locate the medical school and the college of health sciences to the Legon campus, materialises.

Professor Aaron Lawson, Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, said the Government has secured a loan facility to build a new teaching hospital in Legon for the College.

The Hospital will have a 600 bed capacity and will be built by Israeli contractors.

He paid glowing tribute to his predecessors who mooted the idea and the establishment of the school and added that it was time for all alumni to come on board to support their alma mater.

Prof. Yao Tettey, Acting dean of the Medical School, said great sacrifices, hard work and sleepless nights in addition to massive energies and resources were expended to bring the school to its enviable state and position as the premier medical school of Ghana.

The anniversary would be commemorated with a line of activities including monthly days, public lectures, symposium on topic such as “Women in Medicine in Ghana” and the “Perception of the doctor in the Ghanaian society.” The climax would be in October 2012 with fun games, anniversary lecture and a dinner dance.

Mr Ken Ofori –Atta, Executive Chairman of Data Bank, who launched and unveiled the anniversary logo, commended the courage of the founding fathers of the school and said their handiwork has contributed immensely to the health care in the country and beyond.

He recounted how years back, doctors at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital saved his son’s life and recently his own live.

He dared the school to do more by going beyond the 600 bed capacity teaching hospital to meet the demands of the ever growing population and also take time to do a documentary on testimonials so that Ghanaians can have empathy and show more appreciation to doctors.

The idea to establish a Ghana Medical School in Ghana was conceived in 1919 when the Korle-Bu Hospital was built by the then Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg.

It was however shelved when the Governor left office. The idea was revived in the 1960s under the Kwame Nkrumah regime. Housed in temporary buildings in Korle-Bu, it afforded the hospital to again the status of a teaching hospital.

In 1969, when the school was about to graduate it first batch of students, it become necessary to incorporate it into the University of Ghana to enable it issue academic certificates to the graduating students and the name became the University of Ghana Medical School.