The Ghana Medical and Dental Council has announced plans to cap examination attempts for foreign-trained Ghanaian doctors who want to be integrated into the Ghana Health Service.
The Registrar at the Council, Dr. Eli Atikpui, stated that such doctors will now be allowed to write the exams for only five times effective June 2021.
Speaking to Citi News, he explained that this will help to produce qualified doctors.
“Until February this year, you could take the examination as many times as you could and we have had people who have taken the examinations seven times. The board has taken a decision that come June 2021 you will only have five chances to take the examination.”
He further stated that the capping is necessary to disallow multiple attempts which had existed until February 2019.
“We conduct three examinations in a year so assuming I am going in for the first time this October, then I should be able to make it up by June, 2021. I should have had five attempts and we think that we shouldn’t leave people to continue to gamble with this our examinations as many times as they wish to do it. It’s human life and you and I are potential patients. The council wish to ensure that if we put anyone out there with the license to practice, that individual has the knowledge and skill to practice efficiently and adequately.”
Earlier in August, 250 Ghanaian doctors, who were trained in Cuba, returned to the country but have asked for the scrapping of the mandatory examination by the Ghana Medical and Dental Council.
This is a mandatory examination before their integration into the Ghana Health Service.
