Biography
Hometown: Agona Kwanyako
Region: Central
Medical School: University of Ghana Medical School.
What made you choose EM? As a house officer at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital, I realized I enjoyed working in the surgical and medical emergency unit instead of the wards. The idea of making timely interventions to save lives gave me so much joy. Additionally, watching documentaries and TV medical shows like Adrenaline junkies and ER also increased my interest. I wanted to be part of the group of doctors’ offering this service to the many sick people who present to the hospital.
How can EM help Ghana? In Ghana, as in most other developing countries, there is a growing burden of trauma related injuries and medical diseases as a result of the lifestyle changes associated with urbanization. There was no formal training in trauma and advanced emergency medical care and as a result there was increased fatality and morbidity among the patients who presented to the ER/casualty wards of our hospitals. With the inception of formal EM and EN training in Ghana, we are seeing better outcomes in terms of patient recovery and optimal care.
EM has also exposed some weaknesses in our health care delivery system and efforts are being made to address them. The benefits of EM to Ghana are gradually becoming obvious for clinicians and non-clinicians to see.
Research areas of interest are: Trauma and injury, Emergency ultrasound, and Critical care