According to Hippocrates, “wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love for humanity”.

This is truly being exhibited by students of the Accra College of Medicine. During their academic journey of becoming professional doctors, students show their love for humanity through their community service.

Together with a team, students reach out to people within their catchment area and offer services such as eye screening, breast screening, checking of blood pressure and sugar level amidst others. This experience affords students the opportunity to translate what they are taught in the classroom to practical community experience.

Erica Ntiamoah Mensah who is a fifth year student and has gone through this experience shared how it has helped shape her in her medical journey. According to her “Going out there has broadened my knowledge base and also shown me the diseases that are endemic in our country and this has been so helpful as I have gained much insight in understanding patients and knowing their needs at any point.”

A fourth year student and the Vice President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) Kelvin Antwi stated that “Community service allows us to learn more and also offer help to the community as through our services, the people we attend to get to find out certain medical conditions they did not know about and we are able to prevent certain disease outbreaks.”

He also added that when a community’s health status is maximized, it tells a lot about the medical team in that community and this is what inspires them as medical students.

Professor Afua Hesse who is the President of the College shared her belief in this initiative and said it was something they are trying to inculcate into the students for them to know that it is not always about them but what they can do to improve the lives of others.

Being one of the College’s core values, students are made to understand the essence of Community Service, as they reach out to the locals within the community in which they are located to meet them, offer advice and educate them on health issues peculiar to them.

Community Service is done yearly during the SRC week celebration and all ACM students are encouraged to embark on this honorable mission as they learn to become better and professional doctors with a heart power.

As Mahatma Gandhi rightly said “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”