Doctors urged to stay in country
Gilbert Boyefio
06/04/2009
Against the backdrop that Ghana has only four psychiatric doctors in the public sector, in addition to 11 others who are now on retirement but have been contracted to assist in the delivery of mental health care to the country's 22 million people, Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, has appealed to the final year students in psychiatry at the University of Ghana Medical School to consider staying and working in the country.
Speaking to The Statesman on Friday at a seminar for presentation of projects in psychiatry and psychology by final year students of the University of Ghana Medical School, Dr Osei said "it is our hope that by undertaking research in topics in psychiatry they would be encouraged to stay and work in the country.”
The research project is part of the senior clerkship in psychiatry at the University Ghana Medical School for its final year students.
Students are required to undertake a group study in a particular subject in psychiatry and then write a report on it. Dr Osei was thrilled and impressed by the various presentations made by the students.
He said although the students did not have ample time for their projects, coupled with the fact that they were preparing for their exams, their presentation was astounding and very useful. He was full of praise for the initiators of the programme.
He disclosed to The Statesman that over the years, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital has benefited from some of the recommendations made by the students in their project works.
For instance, in 2008, one of the project works revealed that some inmates escaped from the Accra Psychiatric Hospital whiles others move in and out of their own free will, and consequently recommended that security at the hospital should be beefed up.
According to Dr Akwasi Osei, on receipt of the recommendation, the hospital put in place measures to strengthen security. He disclosed that the hospital contracted a private security agency to beef up its security.
Another recommendation that the Accra Psychiatry Hospital has implemented was the health information systems at the hospital. This is being done through the help of the Mental Health and Poverty Project, the Ministry of Health and the Department of Psychiatry.
He continued that with the recommendations that the hospital could not implement immediately it has filed it for the future.
Topics Dr Osei challenged the department of psychiatry to research into in the year's to come are, to what extend family members are ready to foot the medical bill of their relatives who are inmates.
He said this will help the psychiatry hospitals to prepare document on the state of mental health to government that will enable it (government) to review its policy on free health care.
Others are on whether there are other factors, apart from the known ones, that lead to patience relapse and finally whether inmates who had been admitted to the hospital for a long time should be allowed conjugal visits or allowed to go home early for that purpose.
Some of the project topics included progressive muscle relaxation (a technique used to help patients recover from anxiety), cognitive signs of patients, and developing psychological intervention for people living with leukemia, and emotional co-morbidities in schizophrenia.
Another topic that the students researched into was validation of the Revised Quick Cognitive Screening Test (RQCST), which was designed by a Ghanaian Professor, Charles Marte-Kole, based in Canada
The students' research concluded that RQCST proved sensitive and reliable in detecting cognitive impairments in patients on dialysis, patients with cerebral lesions and other neurological conditions.
They recommended that healthcare providers should consider the assessment of cognitive impairments in their patients as this could serve as an indicator of a worsening clinical condition or a stabilized impairment. The RQCST should be incorporated in the neurological assessment of patients.
According to Issa Leslie Adam-Zachariah, course prefect of the final year group, the aim of the research project is to let medical students appreciate psychology and also enhance their interest in the subject.
He said it also affords them the opportunity to establish the link between the typical medical condition and psychiatric manifestations.
He observed that the exercise has helped them to get closer to patients with psychological problems. “Previously we were reluctant to get close to them but this exercise has enabled us to appreciate psychotherapy in the handling of patients with psychiatry problems,” he added.
06/04/2009
Against the backdrop that Ghana has only four psychiatric doctors in the public sector, in addition to 11 others who are now on retirement but have been contracted to assist in the delivery of mental health care to the country's 22 million people, Dr Akwasi Osei, Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, has appealed to the final year students in psychiatry at the University of Ghana Medical School to consider staying and working in the country.
Speaking to The Statesman on Friday at a seminar for presentation of projects in psychiatry and psychology by final year students of the University of Ghana Medical School, Dr Osei said "it is our hope that by undertaking research in topics in psychiatry they would be encouraged to stay and work in the country.”
The research project is part of the senior clerkship in psychiatry at the University Ghana Medical School for its final year students.
Students are required to undertake a group study in a particular subject in psychiatry and then write a report on it. Dr Osei was thrilled and impressed by the various presentations made by the students.
He said although the students did not have ample time for their projects, coupled with the fact that they were preparing for their exams, their presentation was astounding and very useful. He was full of praise for the initiators of the programme.
He disclosed to The Statesman that over the years, the Accra Psychiatric Hospital has benefited from some of the recommendations made by the students in their project works.
For instance, in 2008, one of the project works revealed that some inmates escaped from the Accra Psychiatric Hospital whiles others move in and out of their own free will, and consequently recommended that security at the hospital should be beefed up.
According to Dr Akwasi Osei, on receipt of the recommendation, the hospital put in place measures to strengthen security. He disclosed that the hospital contracted a private security agency to beef up its security.
Another recommendation that the Accra Psychiatry Hospital has implemented was the health information systems at the hospital. This is being done through the help of the Mental Health and Poverty Project, the Ministry of Health and the Department of Psychiatry.
He continued that with the recommendations that the hospital could not implement immediately it has filed it for the future.
Topics Dr Osei challenged the department of psychiatry to research into in the year's to come are, to what extend family members are ready to foot the medical bill of their relatives who are inmates.
He said this will help the psychiatry hospitals to prepare document on the state of mental health to government that will enable it (government) to review its policy on free health care.
Others are on whether there are other factors, apart from the known ones, that lead to patience relapse and finally whether inmates who had been admitted to the hospital for a long time should be allowed conjugal visits or allowed to go home early for that purpose.
Some of the project topics included progressive muscle relaxation (a technique used to help patients recover from anxiety), cognitive signs of patients, and developing psychological intervention for people living with leukemia, and emotional co-morbidities in schizophrenia.
Another topic that the students researched into was validation of the Revised Quick Cognitive Screening Test (RQCST), which was designed by a Ghanaian Professor, Charles Marte-Kole, based in Canada
The students' research concluded that RQCST proved sensitive and reliable in detecting cognitive impairments in patients on dialysis, patients with cerebral lesions and other neurological conditions.
They recommended that healthcare providers should consider the assessment of cognitive impairments in their patients as this could serve as an indicator of a worsening clinical condition or a stabilized impairment. The RQCST should be incorporated in the neurological assessment of patients.
According to Issa Leslie Adam-Zachariah, course prefect of the final year group, the aim of the research project is to let medical students appreciate psychology and also enhance their interest in the subject.
He said it also affords them the opportunity to establish the link between the typical medical condition and psychiatric manifestations.
He observed that the exercise has helped them to get closer to patients with psychological problems. “Previously we were reluctant to get close to them but this exercise has enabled us to appreciate psychotherapy in the handling of patients with psychiatry problems,” he added.
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