In keeping with its mission to support the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, the GPSF has launched the highly successful Resident In Training Educational Stipend (RITES) program, now in its seventh year. GPSF sponsors a 6-week summer educational training program to US medical institutions for meritorious medical trainees selected by the faculty of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Education Committee of the GPSF. We gladly welcome your donations and support to expand and sustain this program.
A testimonial from Dr. Dzifa Ahadzi (above), the 2022 Resident In Training Educational Stipend (RITES) Program Recipient follows:
“In 2020, I was delighted to receive the Resident In Training Educational Stipend (RITES Program) award from the Ghana Physicians and Surgeons Foundation (GPSF) which would permit me to travel to the US as a short-term scholar for a research mentorship and an observership experience. However, the COVID-19 pandemic which ravaged our world in 2021 stalled these plans and our focus as physicians was turned to saving lives which are our call and duty. In the time that elapsed, I went on to focus on completing my fellowship program in Cardiology. At the tail end of my program, I was delighted to hear that the RITES program had been reinstituted.
I arrived at Yale University on the 12th of July, 2022 and after a few days of settling in, I reported to the Cardiovascular Medicine Department of Yale University/Yale New Haven Hospital where I was assigned to work with a General Cardiologist and a specialist in Cardio-oncology with a special interest in Bioethics. Additionally, I was also able to shadow an Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Specialist. With him, I had the opportunity to see a wide spectrum of patients including heart transplant patients, patients on left ventricular assist devices, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and CardioMEMs devices. He also expressed interest in collaborating on further projects: training to support Cardiology Fellows in Ghana, support for the new Cardiology service that I would be involved in setting up in my hospital, and for research.
The Rites program also gave me the opportunity to enroll in an intense two-week Clinical Research course which has been an eye-opener so far. More than anything, my attention has been drawn to many questions in Cardiology that remain unanswered amongst Ghanaians.
It has truly been an experience of a lifetime. I have been exposed to a world of knowledge that will be an anchor for my career as one of the two maiden Cardiologists at the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Beyond clinical care, I have learned that I must be committed to research, teaching, and fostering positive change that would translate into improved cardiovascular care for the people of Tamale and Ghana as a whole.
Thank you to the Rites Program Coordinators for working closely with me, for their patience, and for all they did to make this possible. A big THANK YOU to all the members of the Ghana Physicians and Surgeons Foundation for this opportunity. This is truly a visionary program, and I am privileged to be the benefactor of your generosity. I am eternally grateful.”
