Introduction
The mission of GPSF is to support medical education in Ghana through strategic partnerships with major stakeholders in the healthcare system in Ghana. In January 2019, through the leadership of GPSF and the University of Health and Allied Sciences School of Medicine, Dr. Gabriel Asumeng, attending physician in internal medicine, and Dr. Immaculate Foy, senior resident in internal medicine, went for a 4-week mission trip/global health elective at Ho Government Hospital. Upon arrival in Accra, they boarded a minibus to Ho. They were warmly received by Mrs. Victoria Quartson, administrative secretary to the dean of the medical school, who helped coordinate the elective.
Prof. Harry Tagbor was the dean of the School of Medicine at that time. He welcomed them to his office after his morning meetings. He gave them a tour of the school and introduced them to Dr. Sena Afeti, the medical officer, and Dr. Prince Yeboah, the house officer. Drs. Asumeng and Foy were also introduced to clinical faculty on the male and female wards, the hospital administration, and the university administration. They were given orientation of the medical service by the medical office and the house officer. During the 4-week rotation, Dr. Asumeng participated in bedside rounds with the house officer, the medical officer, Dr. Foy, and fifth year UHAS medical students.
Dr. Foy used the opportunity to rotate with the infectious diseases clinic. She also presented on two clinical journal articles during the rotation.
The rotation exposed them to a wide variety of pathologies including patients with cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis C virus infection, HIV infection through vertical transmission, diabetes ketoacidosis, cerebrovascular accidents (strokes), severe recurrent nocturnal hypoglycemia, severe pneumonia, as well as other typical bread and butter internal medicine internal medicine conditions like uncontrolled high blood pressure, skin infections, and gastrointestinal diseases.
During that trip, the North Carolina Chapter of GPSF donated $5,000.00 to support renovations and upgrades at the basic sciences department of UHAS.
Part of the goal of the trip was to set the stage for increased opportunities for bi-directional exchange programs between UHAS and North American medical schools. These plans were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
