The Medical and Dental Council has urged the Ministry of Health to urgently evaluate the need for physician assistants in sub-district areas.
This request follows the recent induction of around 667 new physician assistants and certified registered anesthetists at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Dr. Divine Banyubala, Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council, voiced concerns during the induction ceremony about declining training standards at some physician assistant schools.
He noted that poor performance in licensure exams could jeopardize the safety and quality of care provided by these health professionals, stating that “Maintaining confidence and trust in the profession is paramount,” Dr. Banyubala said.
“We are increasingly worried about the deteriorating training standards in some of our schools, which directly affects care quality. The poor performance in licensing exams and the significant deficiencies identified during our inspections highlight this issue.”
He emphasized the need for a thorough assessment by the Ministry of Health to determine the appropriate number of physician assistants required for effective healthcare delivery at the sub-district level.
“In our role as the regulatory body, we strongly urge the Ministry, through the Human Resources for Health Directorate, to conduct a needs assessment to ensure optimal healthcare services at the sub-district level,” Dr. Banyubala added.
Dr. Banyubala also announced that the Council plans to review the entry requirements for critical training programs, considering stricter criteria to ensure higher educational standards and competency.
“In response to the decline in training quality and the number of trained physician assistants, we propose revisiting the entry requirements for the program to include only post-basic qualifications,” he said.
“We also recommend that the Ministry consider implementing the consensus reached at the August 2022 Medical and Data Training and Practice Conference, which suggested prioritizing qualified physician assistants for training as doctors and dentists through private medical programs to address national security concerns and offer career progression opportunities.”
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Source: Angelina Riley Hayford/ATLFMNEWS
