Ghanaian Physicians and other healthcare professionals met for the 8th annual meeting of the Ghana Physicians and Surgeons Foundation of North America (GPSF)at the W Hotel, Atlanta in Georgia from April 16 -18th 2010. The 2 day meeting, including academic presentations by over 10 expert physicians was organized around the theme “Poverty and Health – bringing interdisciplinary practice to the patient”.
The academic program included papers and moderated sessions in Infectious Diseases, Psychiatry, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology. The Plenary speaker and invited guest was Prof. C.N.B. Tagoe, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
The conference opened with welcome remarks by Dr. Yosef Kwamie, President of GPSF a psychiatrist in practice in Oshawa, Ontario. The academic sessions began with the sessions on infectious diseases which included presentations by Dr. Elijah Paintsil, Assistant Professor at Yale University and Dr. Michael Aidoo of the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta. This was followed by a presentation on Psychiatry by Dr. Bernard Sowa, Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Marjorie Ratel of the Korle – Bu Neurosciences Foundation and Dr. Paul King an Atlanta Neurosurgeon who is moving to Ghana to assist with the proposed neurosciences centre updated the members on the progress of the project to add a neurosciences centre to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
The Infectious Disease panel moderated by Dr. Pamela Foster, Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the Institute of Rural Research, University of Alabama. Professor Thaddeus Ulzen, of the University of Alabama chaired the panel discussion on Psychiatry and Neurosciences, co-chaired by Dr. John B. Osei-Tutu of New York.
Friday’s full academic program began with Dr. Kwamie’s formal welcome to all delegates and the introduction of Professor C.N.B. Tagoe’s plenary address. The day continued with papers on Diabetes and Metabolic disorders by Dr. David Yaw Twum-Barima of Toronto, Dr. Mark Awuku’s of the University of Western Ontario’s paper on Poverty and Health in Childood and a paper by Dr. Lewis Roberts of the Mayo Clinic on Hepatic diseases, followed by Dr. Emmanuel Yeboah’s of the University of Saskatchewan’s paper on continued scourge of Maternal Mortality in Ghana.
Dr. James Aikins, Associate Professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, NJ concluded the day with a paper on Urological injuries during Gynecological surgeries.

This was followed by an open forum on the efforts of GPSF members to increase the help they provide to institutions in Ghana through educational program, peer training in advanced techniques to colleagues in Ghana and the desire to advocate for regulations in Ghana which will encourage more physicians to donate time and effort to work in Ghana on a regular basis to support the national effort to improve the standard of training and healthcare delivery in Ghana.
Past presidents Prof. Ulzen and Dr. Alex Twum –Boafo were tasked with becoming formal liaison officers with the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra.
Barriers faced by existing programs to support healthcare in Ghana were also discussed. These include prohibitive fees for temporary registration charged to foreign based specialists who volunteer their services in Ghana at their own cost on a regular basis. A recent duty imposed on donated medical equipment brought to Ghana by surgical teams is an additional barrier which was discussed. The GPSF is planning to assist the Ghana Medical and Dental Council with credentialing of overseas physicians to streamline the process of temporary registration in Ghana.
GPSF is also planning to add to existing programs by members and is encouraging all physicians in the diaspora who have education and service programs to notify the organization to effect greater integration of services and to avoid duplication. The existing programs include the include International Healthcare Volunteers (Dr. James Aikins), Foundation of Orthopedic and Complex Spine (Dr. Boachie-Adjei), EAUMF (Prof. Ulzen) and African Partners Medical (Dr. Roberts) and Dr. Yeboah’s program Kybele, which is active in Sunyani in reducing maternal mortality in childbirth.
The newly recognized junior professionals chapter endeavored to conduct a national outreach in the US and Canada to invite younger health professionals to join and contribute to the organization.
The event was capped by a fundraising dinner dance to raise funds for the various projects the organization is planning both in the US and in Ghana to support the mission of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra.
Dr. Albert Tagoe, a vascular surgeon in Atlanta and his wife Dr. Patience Tagoe also hosted a reception for delegates at their home to support professional networking of colleagues from all over North America and to host younger physicians and allied health professionals who have joined the organization.
The GPSF was established to support the mission of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (GCPS) which was established by an Act of Parliament in 2002 to provide quality postgraduate training in Medicine in Ghana. It also serves as an advocacy group to educate the general public about numerous health care issues in Ghana and Africa. The foundation supports all non-profit health initiatives in Ghana by Ghanaian health professionals in North America.
Currently the College has local and external faculties in all specialties and there are over 300 residents at various stages of training in various specialties under the aegis of the GCPS.
A new executive board was elected and Dr. George Ofori –Amanfo, Assistant Professor at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia was elected president.
Other officers are Dr. Moses Aboagye-Kumi (Fayetteville, NC) as President -elect, Dr. James Aikins as Vice –President, Dr. Elijah Paintsil as secretary and Dr. Nii Tetteh (MA) continues as treasurer.
Ex- officio board members entrusted with special projects were Dr. Yosef Kwamie, Prof. Mireku –Boateng (South Carolina), Prof. Ulzen (Alabama), Dr Kwasi Debra (Washington, DC), and Dr. Alex – Twum Boafo (New York, NY)
A call was made to Ghanaian Physicians and health professionals overseas to join the foundation in helping support medical education and shape health policy in Ghana. Many members of the GPSF provide free teaching and clinical services on a regular basis in Ghana and many are involved in developing numerous health projects in the country.