Two final year medical students from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies in Tamale, Ghana, have completed a month long elective placement in psychiatry at St John of God Hospital in Dublin. The two students, Mr. Andanye V. Peter and Mr. Wondoh M. Paul were first runners up at the 2nd inter-medical school public speaking completion to promote career option for Ghanaian medical students. The event which was organized by the Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland in collaboration with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Chief Psychiatrist of the Ghana Health Service and the various Faculties of the four medical schools in Ghana was jointly sponsored by St Patrick’s University Hospital and St John of God Hospital both in Dublin.
The winners of the competition, two final year medical students from the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Cape Coast will undertake a similar elective placement at St Patrick’s University Hospital in August 2013.
The 3rd inter medical school public speaking completion is scheduled to take place at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at the end of November 2013. The topic for this year’s competition is; ‘Discuss the strengths and weakness of the current mental health care system in Ghana-Propose an improvement or a new model if the current system is not good enough’.
More details of this event will be published in due course.
Below is a report by Mr. Andanye V. Peter and Mr. Wondoh M. Paul on their placement.


A report by: Andanye V. Peter and Wondoh M. Paul, Sch. of Medicine & Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Ghana
Arriving at a temperature of zero degrees Celsius, it was certain that we had left familiar territories. As the weather was very unwelcoming we were quite skeptical about everything too for that was the mind with which we came here.
After coming first runner-up in the second edition of the inter-medical school debate organized by Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI) to create an interest in psychiatry among medical students in our part of the world, we had just arrived to enjoy the last bit of our victory. It was a one month placement in psychiatry. Many are the skepticisms associated with this field of study of which we bore a few. We arrived on the 11th of March, 2013 in Dublin City, Ireland.
The reception by the St. John of God Brothers was delightful. Their calm and peaceful home gave us the relaxation we needed to get the best of the programme.
The first half of our placement was in St John of God (SJOG) Hospital, a private inpatient referral center. Our first encounter with the consultants at the SJOG Hospital was enough to change our minds about psychiatry. We rotated each day with a different consultant at different units basking in their knowledge and enjoying every bit of the interactions. Dr. Abbie Lane, Dr Cian Deniham, Dr Terrence Larkin, Dr Mcwilliams, Dr Rory Shelley, Dr. Ruth Loane were the main consultants who were in charge of various units including: Psychosis, mood disorders, eating disorders, addiction, anxiety disorders etc. One of the intriguing things we found was the fact that every decision was taken in consultation with the patients. The patient was always given the necessary information on every treatment modality. The efficacy and side effects of every drug were readily explained to the patient who then decided either to reject or continue with it. The practice of this and not the theory of it was worth learning.
The multidisciplinary management team which comprised of a psychiatrist, nurse, psychologist, occupational therapist, social worker, speech and language therapist, etc. had one purpose: to ensure the speedy recovery of the patient whiles providing a homely environment. The gym sessions, run by the hospital for the patients also helped in the patients’ response to treatment.
At Genisa, the adolescent in-patient ward, we were greeted with much surprise. The facility there was structured to meet the mental, social as well as the academic needs of the patients. The place therefore had to serve as a hospital, a home and a school. It was worth the time.
Whiles at SJOG Hospital, we also visited a closely related facility known as Detect. At Detect, the focus was on research, awareness creation and early detection of mental illnesses. Like any other medical specialty, such early interventions have proven to influence the overall response of the patient to treatment.
At Lucena Clinic, the child and adolescent psychiatric unit in Rathgar, we were introduced to another pleasant form of psychiatry also involving the multidisciplinary management of patients. We had another interesting half of our program there. We rotated between two teams led by consultants, Dr. Blanaid Gavin and Prof. Fiona McNicholas. Screening methods were readily available to include or exclude certain diagnosis. The schools of the children were not left out in the management of their conditions. A strict level of professionalism was exhibited by the staff of the facility.
In all we would say that this has been an eye opener which has more than ever before whipped up our interests in psychiatry. We hope to one day be counted among the names of this discipline. We are grateful to AGPI, the organisers of the programme, for such a wonderful initiative. We are also very thankful to the St. John of God Brothers for the saintly hospitality shown to us during our stay in Dublin. We thank the two facilities (SJOG Hospital and Lucena clinic), the consultants and their teams and all other staff of these facilities who dedicated time to ensure that we got something out this experience. A word of appreciation also goes to Dr. Vincent Agyapong and his family for their warm reception during the weekends. May God richly bless all the above mentioned and we hope to walk in the path of this experience soon.

In the attached picture, from left to right are: Dr Vincent Agyapong, Chairperson of AGPI, Mr. Wondoh M. Paul , medical student, Professor Fiona McNicholas, Professor of Child Psychiatry at Lucena Clinic in Dublin, Andanye V. Peter, medical student and Mr. John Mitchell, Executive Director of St John of God Development Company.