Abstract—Background: Ghana’s first Emergency Medicine
residency and nursing training programs were initiated
in 2009 and 2010, respectively, at Komfo Anokye Teaching
Hospital in the city of Kumasi in association with Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the
Universities of Michigan and Utah. In addition, the National
Ambulance Service was commissioned initially in 2004 and
has developed to include both prehospital transport services
in all regions of the country and Emergency Medical Technician
training. Over a decade of domestic and international
partnership has focused on making improvements in emergency
care at a variety of institutional levels, culminating
in the establishment of comprehensive emergency care
training programs. Objective: We describe the history and
status of novel postgraduate emergency physician, nurse, and
prehospital provider training programs as well as the prospect
of creating a board certification process and formal continuing
education program for practicing emergency physicians. Discussion:
Significant strides have been made in the development
of emergency care and training in Ghana over the last decade,
resulting in the first group of Specialist-level emergency physicians
as of late 2012, as well as development of accredited
emergency nursing curricula and continued expansion of a national
Emergency Medical Service. Conclusion: This work
represents a significant move toward in-country development
of sustainable, interdisciplinary, team-based emergency
provider training programs designed to retain skilled health
care workers in Ghana and may serve as a model for similar
developing nations. 2014 Elsevier Inc.
, Keywords—Ghana; emergency medicine residency;
emergency nursing; EMS; training programs