Some BSC Anesthetic graduates waiting to be inducted and placed for internships by the Medical and Dental Council after passing their licensure exams this year have called on the council to fast-track the induction.
As part of the processes to acquire a license to operate, trained anesthetists are required to go through an induction after their licensure exams, before they undertake an internship.
Some affected students shared with Citi News about how there hasn’t been a notice for induction since they completed their registration in August, something that bothers them.
“We completed School of Anesthesia Kumasi in 2018 and graduated the same year and got our certificates but due to some circumstances that we have no control of we haven’t been inducted. Physician assistants at Kintampo were having problems with the Medical and Dental Council so they sent them [the council] to court. Per the laws of Ghana, anesthesia students are not physician assistants. We are part of the certified registered anesthetists but the medical council doesn’t want to implement it,” a gentleman said.
Another student said: “Per the requirement, you’re supposed to be done with your induction before you can start the internship so we are hoping this would be faster so that we can have the induction done and start with the internship as soon as possible. Since August, we still haven’t received even a text message to know when we are going to have the induction. We’ve made several calls to the council but to no avail.”
Background
The Ghana Association of Certified Registered Anesthetics (GACRA) undertook a partial strike in April in demand for a name change.
Their demands were geared towards government acknowledging them as Certified Registered Anesthetics instead of physician assistants.
Ghana’s laws acknowledged the change as, after the association complained to Parliament, the name was changed from the Physician Assistants-Anaesthesia to Certified Registered Anaesthetists via the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act 857.
Anesthetists are a crucial part of healthcare delivery as they provide special medical care to patients mostly before and during surgical procedures.
They work in collaboration with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, podiatrists, and other professionals to ensure the safe administration of anesthesia.
Anesthesia is the administration of medication to allow medical procedures to be done without pain, and in some cases, without the patient being aware during the procedure.