• Dr. Mrs Kate Quartey-Papafio delivering her address

Though required to be intellectually equipped to carry out their duties as medical doctors, the Accra College of Medicine (ACM) has gone a step further to add moral training to the pro­gramme.

This, the institution be­lieves, will prepare the medical doctors adequately for the arduous task ahead of them in serving their numerous patients.

The Council Chairman of ACM, Prof Stephen Adei, in his welcome address at the 8th Matriculation of ACM, in Accra, said the College had to produce the best medical students for the country.

He said character was what would carry them to the field, adding that,” You must go and stand out as the best academically and morally trained doctors in the service of humanity.”

The Guest Speaker, Dr Mrs Kate Quartey-Papafio be­moaned the fact that though there were many trends in modern medicine,a lot had not been explored in Ghana.

She mentioned that tele-medicine, though not fully established in Ghana, was one of the modern trends being used around the globe, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic where it was essen­tial for patients, doctors, and pharmacists to collaborate ef­fectively for a common good.

“Modern medicine pro­vides the facility for surgeries to be carried out remotely using laparoscopic devices and tools, such that surgeries could be carried on a patient whose doctor resides on a different continent,” she said.

Dr Quartey-Papafio said there was the need to re-ori­ent the youth of the country to adopt social media to change their focus towards providing the needed values in the medical profession.

She urged the matricu­lants to be innovative by in­corporating the various fields of medicine into one theme and bring about changes in the profession.

The President of ACM, Prof Afua Adjo Jectey Hesse reminded the matriculants that everything they would go through would be a test of their character.

She asked them to build their character on the values of integrity, passion, innova­tion, excellent leadership, community service and above all heart power which were the attributes the Ghanaian public were looking for in their doctors.

Prof Hesse said charac­ter was not optional, it was sacrosanct to the future that God had planned for them and their homes.

“ No matter where you place prayers, character matters. The greatest fraud in life is religion without character,” she said.

Ms Michaelina Maa Afia Aframa Appiah, a matriculant who spoke on behalf of her colleagues, thanked their parents and guardians for the enormous sacrifices they had made,adding that they were grateful for the opportunity granted them to study at the college.

She called on her col­leagues not to give up no matter how bumpy the road would become, “because one day, millions of people will commend us for our spirit of perseverance,” she said.

The 22 students who took the Matriculation and ACM Honour Code oaths, were admitted to levels 100, 200 and 500 respectively.

By Raymond Kyekye