Gov’t to expand medical education to improve doctor-to-patient ratio – Education Minister

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has announced that government is intensifying efforts to decentralise and expand medical education across Ghana as part of a broader strategy to improve the country’s doctor-to-patient ratio and strengthen healthcare delivery.

He explained that expanding access to medical training beyond the traditional academic hubs is essential to producing more doctors and addressing inequalities in healthcare distribution across the country.

The Minister made the remarks at the commissioning of a new hostel facility at the Wisconsin International University College in Feyiase in the Ashanti Region.

According to Haruna Iddrisu, the government’s decentralisation drive is aimed at ensuring that more medical professionals are trained and deployed to underserved communities across Ghana.

He noted that while the country has made progress in training nurses and other health professionals, the number of doctors remains insufficient to meet growing healthcare demands.

“This will help us get more doctors across the country,” he said.

“Currently, we have more nurses all over the country, and we need to balance that with an increased number of doctors,” he added.

The Education Minister also referenced ongoing reforms in professional education, particularly in the legal sector, as a model for expanding access to medicine.

He noted that government reforms in legal education have significantly increased student intake and broadened access to legal training institutions.

“Many of you know that the NDC government is very determined to demystify legal education. That is why we have a new law on legal education,” he said.

“So very soon, we will shift it to the area of medicine. In times past, there were very few people studying law. Now the numbers are multiplying, and it should be the same for medicine,” he added.

He explained that removing barriers to entry and expanding training institutions would help increase admissions into medical schools and produce more health professionals for the country.

The newly commissioned hostel facility at Wisconsin International University College is expected to support the institution’s expansion of health science and allied medical programmes.

The facility will provide accommodation for a growing number of students pursuing medical and health-related courses, as the university scales up its capacity to contribute to national healthcare training.

The Minister indicated that partnerships with private tertiary institutions form a key part of government’s strategy to expand access to professional education.

Traditional leaders, educationists and stakeholders present at the event welcomed the government’s announcement, describing it as a timely intervention to strengthen Ghana’s healthcare system.

They noted that increasing the number of medical training institutions will help reduce pressure on major teaching hospitals, improve regional healthcare delivery and encourage more doctors to remain and serve in the regions.

Stakeholders also expressed optimism that the policy would help bridge the gap in doctor distribution and improve access to quality healthcare in rural and underserved communities.

The government says the expansion of medical education forms part of its broader human capital development agenda aimed at strengthening key sectors such as health, education and skills training.

Officials believe that increasing the number of trained doctors and health professionals will play a critical role in improving healthcare delivery, reducing patient congestion in hospitals and enhancing national productivity.