Dr Michael Tetteh, the Head of the Tema General Hospital’s Herbal Unit, has given the assurance to the public that herbal practitioners operating at public health institutions across the country, have undergone the requisite training as professionals.
He said to be posted to a public health institution to practice as a herbal physician, one must undergo training in herbal medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), which is the only recognised university for training herbal medicine practitioners.
Dr Tetteh disclosed this during the Ghana News Agency Tema Regional Office’s weekly advocacy programme on ‘Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility!’
He said that as part of the first four years of training, the physicians study all the basic medical sciences, including anatomy, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, immunology, pharmacology, herbal medicine, and research, and herbal business.
He explained that their training was not only based on health care but also on other
aspects of herbal medicine, such as research, products, and cultivation.
Dr Tetteh indicated that after the initial training, they, just like other orthodox practitioners, also embarked on clinical practice skills in hospital wards, after which they received additional two years of training under the Traditional Medicine Practice Council to learn more on the herbal aspect of application.
This training, he said, had two parts of a year each at a hospital facility using herbal medicine to treat illnesses, and the other part at the Centre for Plant Research.
Dr Tetteh stated that the final phase of the training was done at the Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital, where the students perfect their clinical skills in herbal medication, after which they write professional exams, regulated by the Traditional Medicine Council, to obtain a practicing licence to operate in medical facilities.
He said that with such in-depth theoretical and practical training, the professional herbal practitioners were in a better posi
tion to consult and treat sicknesses using herbal medicine and urged the public to visit the herbal units for their needs instead of patronising quack ones.
Source: Ghana News Agency