By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The Executives of the Medical and Dental Council of Ghana are uncertain about the quality of online tuition offered to Ghanaian students studying medicine and dentistry by some Medical and Dental Schools in Ukraine.
According to the Council, such online platforms fall short of the required standardised training process for students studying Medicine and Dentistry.
Records available show that most foreign-trained Ghanaian doctors who sat for the Medical and Dental Council (MDC)’s examination failed.
For instance, in 2019, a total of 157 out of 225 foreign-trained Ghanaian Doctors who sat for the Medical and Dental Council (MDC)’s examination failed.
Only 68, representing 30.2 percentage points, were able to prove their mettle in the examination.
The 225 comprises 208 general duty medical doctors, eight general duty dentists, eight specialists, and a ‘matured’ candidate, who studied at more than 10 universities in China, Ukraine, Russia, the Philippines, and Belarus for six years.
According to the Council, the failure rate has been consistent for the past 19 years, with more than half of foreign-trained candidates failing the examination each year.
He said the highest pass rate of 48 percent was recorded in November 2017 with 139 candidates, while the lowest pass rate was recorded in February the same year, in which 180 candidates were examined.
Ghanaians trained as doctors in Cuba and Venezuela are said to be performing better.
The bi-annual examination, introduced by MDC in 2000, is to ensure that doctors trained in other countries have the requisite knowledge and skills to offer medical and dental care to patients in the country.