College of Surgeons awards Dr Ribeiro

Accra, Feb. 9, GNA - The Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons on Thursday conferred an Honorary Fellowship award on Dr Bernard Francisco Ribeiro, a distinguished Ghanaian Surgeon, and President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

The award is reserved for professionals of high academic distinction and so far only seven personalities including President John Agyekum Kufuor have been honoured with the Fellowship. Dr Ribeiro was born in Cape Coast in the Central Region in 1944 and educated at the Dean Close School in Cheltenham and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London.

He worked for a period at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in the 1970s and also lectured at the Ghana Medical School in 1974. At a short ceremony to confer the award, Professor Samuel Ofosu-Amaah, President of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons, said it was to acknowledge and pay homage to experience and excellence on account of the extraordinary achievements of Dr Ribeiro. He said for Dr Ribeiro, the first African to be elected to the prestigious position, as President of the 260-year old Royal Collage of England was no mean achievement.

Prof Ofosu-Amaah said new colleges like the young Ghana College, established in 2002 hold the England College in awe and fascinated by their traditions and authority, adding, Ghana looked forward to cooperate whenever possible.

The Rector of the College, Professor Paul Kwame Nyame said the Collage offered training in about 18 specialities in Ghana using local facilities and facilitators, all aimed at improving the quality of service.

He said currently, there were 130 trainees in the first two years of the College's establishment with 70 more trainees to be admitted in October 2006.