The University of Cape Coast (UCC) has held the sixth edition of the Ghana-Norway Summer School on Medical Physics and Radiography
About hundreds of students and practitioners of medical physics, radiography, radiation protection and related fields attended the five-day Summer School which was on the theme: ‘"Emergence of new technologies in diagnostic medical imaging".
The Summer School, held at the School of Medical Sciences, was aimed at establishing partnership for education and research between institutions in Ghana and Norway within the fields of Medical Physics, Radiation Protection and Radiography.
Prof. Joseph Richmond Fianko addressing the Summer School
Prof. Joseph Richmond Fianko, the Dean of the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences at the University of Ghana Atomic Campus and on behalf of Ghana, lauded the partner institutions for their steadfastness and commitment.
According to him, the programme had equipped students with the right skills and knowledge to contribute immensely within the diagnostics radiology environment.
Prof. Moses Joojo Eghan
Prof.Eghan further added that,”the Summer school is aimed to establish partnership for research.”
Mr. Dennis Amartey Ahia also said “Radiographers that are working with license in Ghana are just about six hundred and twenty eight (628).”
According to Mr. Dennis Amartey Ahia, there is a high probability of getting enough radiographers few years to come.
Prof. Catherine De Lange Davies
He expressed the hope that the partnership would provide healthcare delivery and increase the momentum to place medical physics and other allied health sciences at its frontiers in Ghana and Africa.
For her part, Prof. Catherine De Lange Davies, a Physicist with the Norwegian University, vowed to deepen the academic relations to the advantage of all and sundry.
She urged participants to take the Summer School seriously and expressed satisfaction with the patronage.
The Provost of the College of Agricultural and Natural Sciences-UCC, Prof. Moses Joojo Eghan, said,”The project will result in student mobility both ways on master and PhD level,as well as mobility of staff.”
Some members of audience at the event
Professor Samuel Boakye Dampare,Director general Ghana Atomic Agency during his statement at the opening ceremony highlighted that the theme for the training is appropriate.
”Prof. Chair,distinguished ladies and gentleman the theme for this training event is very appropriate in that it brings into shelves focus new dimension in application of ionizing radiation to medical diagnosis and treatment of cancer,”he said.
He again said that,”International Atomic Agency (IAA) further indicated that in the next 2030 there will be 30million new cases and 16 million cancer deaths.”
The President of Ghana Society of Radiographers (GSR),Mr. Amartey Ahia, in his presentation on “Overview of Diagnostic Imaging in Ghana said , “There are only two (2) Nuclear Medicine Technology in Ghana.”
Mr. Ahia also said “Radiographers that are working with license in Ghana are just about six hundred and twenty eight (628).”
According to Mr. Dennis Amartey Ahia, there was a high probability of producing radiographers in the country.
“Looking at the number of institutions that are now training radiographers we could clearly see that in the next four or five years we may have a lot of radiographers in the system”,he said.
The Summer School was organised by the Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences (SNAS) ,University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Department of Physics, University of Cape Coast(UCC), and support from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) (Department of Physics)
The Summer School was chaired by Prof. Francis Hasford, Associate professor of Physics.