By Hannah Dadzie
The Schools of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Ghana (UG) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) were established in 2009 to train highly qualified veterinary surgeons with the skills needed to respond to the animal health and zoonotic challenges of Ghana.
Since 2009, 114 veterinary surgeons graduated from KNUST with 89 males and 25 females. The University of Ghana also graduated 98 veterinary surgeons including 19 females and 79 males. Still, Ghana faces a severe shortage of veterinary surgeons needed to adequately monitor, prevent and control infectious diseases of public health and economic importance.
As professionals, veterinarians are in a unique position at the boundary of human, animal and environmental sciences and they need to be armed today with broader clinical and non-clinical skills in a rapidly changing world.
To meet this need, Dean of, School of Veterinary Medicine, KNUST, Professor Benjamin Obukowho Emikpe, and the Acting Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine (UG), Dr. Hope Richard Otsyina, are looking to foster strong partnerships with sister schools within the UK to continue growing the vets of tomorrow in Ghana.
There are nine veterinary schools in the UK, the oldest of which, the Royal Veterinary College, founded over 230 years ago! The country has a long history of veterinary education. The skills taught, how they are taught and how they are assessed have evolved since 1791 as human-animal relations and how they impact the veterinary profession changes with time.
Over the course of ten days, Dr Flavie Vial from the Animal and Plant Health Agency has arranged for Prof. Emikpe and Dr Otsyina to meet with the Deans and senior staff of four of these veterinary schools (RVC, University of Glasgow, Edinburg and Surrey) to discuss the future of veterinary education and research in Ghana.
Dr. Otsyina, Dr. Vial and Prof Emikpe were welcomed by Dr. Paterson, the Associate Dean for Postgraduate Teaching and Learning at the Royal Veterinary College.
Starting in London with the Royal Veterinary College, the Deans were welcomed by the Principal of the school Professor Stuart Reid and in Glasgow, they were hosted by the School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow. They were also welcomed to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh and the UK’s newest School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey (opened in 2014).
The visit is supported by the Animal Health System Strengthening Project, a UK overseas development assistance project managed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.