How To Become A Medical Doctor In Ghana

How to become a medical doctor in Ghana? In this guide, you’ll get all the tips on how to become a medical doctor in Ghana. You’ll also get to know about the requirements, residency and how to obtain a license to practice medicine in Ghana.

Medicine and Surgery is known to be the most competitive course in Ghana Universities. Medicine and Surgery is always known to have the highest number of admission applicants across the medical schools in Ghana. Unfortunately, not all of these applicants are admitted to study medicine and surgery.

So, in this article, I’ll be showing the necessary steps to take if you want to become a successful medical doctor in Ghana.

Who is A Medical Doctor?

A medical doctor (MD) is a physician who works in a hospital, clinic, medical centres, or private practice. Medical doctors use medicine to treat illness and injuries to improve a patient’s health.

They also prescribe medications, order diagnostic tests, diagnose ailments and keep records of patients information. Doctors of medicine often have a specialization such as general practice, gynaecology, dermatology, orthopaedics, pediatric medicine and many others. All surgeons are medical doctors.

Now that you know who a medical doctor is, let’s now go straight to how to become a doctor in Ghana. This post contains the necessary steps that you need to take to practice medicine in Ghana.

Requirements Needed to Become a Medical Doctor in Ghana

To qualify as a medical doctor in Ghana, there are certain academic requirements that must be met. Hence, to realize your dream as a medical doctor, the journey commences right from senior secondary school.

You cannot be in the social science or art classes while nursing an ambition of becoming a doctor. You have to be in the right place, in this case, a natural science class where subjects as Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and English form the core subject areas.

Not only must you offer these subjects, but you must also perform exceedingly well to stand a chance of gaining admission. This is due to the competitive nature of the course in Ghana universities.

Admission into medicine and surgery requires a minimum of credit pass in Biology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and English Langauge. Candidates must also pass the entrance examination and/or interview conducted by the school.

Duration of Study

The length of time that you’ll spend in a medical school is usually significant. The School of Medicine in Ghana runs a standard six (6) year programme leading to the award of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS). During the six (6) year training, you will face a heavy workload that might overwhelm you if you aren’t determined.

SEE ALSO: Salary Structure of Doctors in Ghana.

Complete A Residency

After you are done with medical school, you need to enrol for your residency training. The basic requirements for entry into residency training for all residency training programmes is a pass in the Ghana College of Physicians & Surgeons Primary Examination or West Africa College of Physicians (Surgeons).

Before applying, you must have a recognised medical or dental qualification. That is to stay you must have completed your MBBS degree in the university.

Also, you must be fully registered and would have completed a period of houseman-ship training and a one-year district rotation as required by the Ministry of Health, Ghana.

Some major specialties in the residency programme include Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Paediatrics. So you’ll be rotated through all these specialties irrespective of your faculty.

That’s not all, you need to attend a selection interview. The admission process is Faculty based and criteria used may differ from Faculty to Faculty.

Obtain Licensure to Practice Medicine

Before practising medicine in Ghana, you must obtain a license. To qualify for licensure, candidates must earn a degree from an accredited medical school either in Ghana or abroad.

You also need to complete a residency program and register with the Medical and Dental Council, Ghana. For foreign-trained doctors, you’ll have to undertake an exam to be granted the license to practise medicine in Ghana.

For more information on medical license in Ghana, CLICK HERE.

The licensure examination is normally held twice a year – February and August.

Conclusion

Medicine is a noble profession and is generally regarded among the best and most profitable professions for all the right reasons. So, if you want to become a medical doctor in Ghana, then you need to follow the steps outlined above. We wish you all the best in your career pursuit.