Ghana Medical and Dental Council Cancels Physician Assistantship (PA) Program in Universities Allegedly

In a controversial speculation as captured in a social media post by an X user, some universities within the country have taken out the Physician Assistantship Undergraduate degree program from their list of programs displayed on the admission portals of the schools as 

According to the post, the Ghana Medical and Dental Council (GMDC) is seeking to cancel Physician Assistantship (PA) and thereby prevent tertiary institutions in the country from offering Physician Assistantship as an undergraduate degree program of study in the country.

Various users on X among many other social media platforms are raising varied views concerning the development which they claim is a deliberate move by the GMDC to shut out Physician Assistants who are a part of the GMDC and have been recognized as qualified health practitioners.

Duly established and regulated by the Health Professions Regulatory Bodies Act, 2013 (Act 857), The Physician Assistant Profession of the Federation of Physician Assistants, is being threatened by what many described as a plot orchestrated by the Medical and Dental Council to disregard the legal foundation, professional expertise and operational existence of the Physician Assistant Profession.

The Physician Assistants who have been practicing mainly at the health centers where there are no posted doctors or inadequate doctors in some cases, have for a long time played a significant role in the country’s health service especially in rural communities where no doctors are available at the community health centers or clinics. 

Although no official communique has been seen publicly which suggests the GMDC indeed is seeking any moves as the social media speculation claims, concerns are being raised as it is clear some universities have already deleted the program from their official websites suggesting the school no more offers the PA program.

The news as it has sparked several discussions across the social media pages has left many in heated arguments in which some people argue that the allegations are very true and the GMDC is intentionally on an agenda to delegitimize the PA profession as well as de-accredit universities and institutions including medical schools of public tertiary universities from running the PA program.

“Physician Assistants are less paid, poorly treated and less respected at the health facilities but the council continually humiliates their efforts whilst it is obvious the country needs them”, a user tweeted.

 Graduating students, continuing students and applying candidates of the program have come out expressing fears in reply to the assertion as there is already an alarming rate of unemployment in the country.

However, it is unclear yet how the Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health and the concerned stakeholders would resolve the issue.