Chartered Accountant advocates for establishment of Professorial positions within Teaching Hospitals 

A Chartered Accountant at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, in Kumasi, has called for the establishment of professorial positions in the Teaching Hospitals in Ghana.

Mr. Gabriel Nyame noted that Teaching Hospitals remain central to Ghana’s healthcare delivery and medical education systems and provide essential clinical training for medical, nursing, radiography, sonography and other health science students across the country.

In a petition to the GTEC, the Rector, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS); the Minister for Health (MOH), All Boards of Teaching Hospitals; Ghana Medical Association; Ghana Medical and Dental Council; KNUST Council and the University of Ghana Council, Mr. Nyame said, also drive critical research, offer highly specialised clinical care and train postgraduate residents who form the backbone of specialist healthcare delivery in Ghana.

Mr. Gabriel Nyame, however, said despite these substantial academic and clinical contributions, consultants within teaching hospitals currently lack an internal academic progression pathway.

According to him, unlike their counterparts in university settings, hospital-based consultants , many of whom hold PhDs, MPhils, specialty board certifications, extensive senior-level experience and strong research and publication records, cannot be promoted to professorial ranks such as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Full Professor, Honorary Professor, or Professor of Practice.

Mr. Gabriel Nyame observed that many leading academic medical centres operate through such structured affiliations, and cited Singapore General Hospital (SGH).

He mentioned that the University College London Hospital (UK), in collaboration with University College London (UCL), supports honorary and substantive academic appointments for senior clinicians, while Harvard Medical School (USA), through its affiliated hospitals, appoints clinicians to ranks such as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor.

The University Hospital Basel and University Hospital Zurich (Switzerland) are also said to similarly grant professorial titles to clinical experts through well-established university partnerships.

These models, Mr. Gabriel Nyame said, have proven effective in enhancing research output, elevating institutional prestige, motivating clinicians and improving retention of senior specialists-outcomes that Ghana’s teaching hospitals urgently need.

The Chartered Accountant noted that this structural gap in Ghana on the other hand significantly diminishes motivation, undermines retention, and creates inequity between hospital-based trainers and university faculty, even when both groups meet equivalent academic and professional standards, which situation can compel experienced specialists to migrate to universities where their academic achievements can be formally recognised.

In the circumstance, he argued that a real threat could be posed to the sustainability of expert-led clinical care, mentorship and specialist training within our teaching hospitals.

The Chartered Accountant at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital has, therefore, recommended the urgent need to establish an academic promotion framework within teaching hospitals or to strengthen formal collaboration with affiliated universities, particularly between Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), to safeguard excellence in healthcare delivery and to maintain the quality of clinical education.

He has appealed to the Hospital Boards, the Government and all relevant stakeholders to support the creation of a clear and equitable pathway for academic progression within teaching hospitals.

The Kumasi-based chartered accountant contended that establishing such a framework will recognize excellence, retain experienced clinicians, and strengthen our collective mission to deliver world-class healthcare and medical education across Ghana.

“Such a system”, he noted, “would allow deserving consultants to be conferred academic titles in acknowledgment of their scholarly output, teaching contributions, clinical expertise and service to national development”.

 

 

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