Charles Anachanser, head of Information and Communication Technology at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, discusses the hospital's IT infrastructure with Ron Goldberg.
Published August 15, 2011, last updated on June 3, 2020 under Education News
DGHI is looking to expand its global health education and training opportunities for students and trainees through a neonatal fellowship program under development with partners in Ghana. This summer, Dr. Ronald Goldberg, chief of the Neonatology Division at the Duke University Medical Center, and Sarah Trent, assistant director for International Operations at DGHI, traveled to Accra and Kumasi to explore collaborations and to facilitate the development of the fellowship training program.
Goldberg and Trent, along with partners at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, met with academic and clinical collaborators, political officials including the Minister of Health and Deputy Minister of Health, and the King of Asantehene Kingdom to seek support for the neonatal fellowship program. The main Ghanaian partners for the program are Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, and University of Ghana Medical School.
During a visit with King of the Asantehene Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and his wife Lady Julia, they expressed gratitude for Duke’s interest in developing a fellowship in Ghana, concern over the dismal state of neonatal and pediatric health care and a desire to partner with Duke to improve infant mortality.
The neonatal fellowship program would help to address the country’s high rates of neonatal mortality and morbidity by training Ghanaian and West African physicians as neonatologists in Ghana and at Duke. This partnership aims to build capacity in country to decrease neonatal morbidity and mortality rates. The program could begin as early as January 2012.
During the site visit, the Duke team also met with academic leaders and information technology experts from Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the University of Ghana. Plans are currently under way for a research and education network that connects all of the universities and regional hospitals in Ghana. The fellowship program aims to work within this framework to expand country-wide collaboration around neonatal health care.
In addition to the neonatal fellowship program, the Duke team is also considering expanding partnerships with nongovernmental organizations in Accra to offer research training opportunities for Duke undergraduate, master’s and medical students.
DGHI, in partnership with the Duke’s Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, and Office of Graduate Medical Education, will work to further develop the neonatal fellowship program and diverse educational opportunities with partners in Ghana.
