The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has directed all Medical Doctors, Dentists, and Dental Surgeons practising in Ghana to effect changes in their name tags.
In addition, all medical professionals are to ensure academic titles are prefixed on their name tags.
In a statement, GMA explained the directive which took effect from January 1 is to improve patients’ rights and patient safety in its quest to deliver quality healthcare following its 65th Annual General Meeting held in Takoradi in November 2023.
“Medical Doctors and Dentists with additional academic titles will prefix these titles with their academic titles as appropriate. For example, Medical Doctors or Dentists with a professorial rank appointment and/or a PhD qualification may be designated Prof. Dr. (Med), Prof. Dr. Dr. (Med), Dr. Dr. (Med), Prof. Dr. (Dent), Prof. Dr. Dr. (Dent) or Dr. Dr. (Dent) as may apply.
“All Medical Doctors and Dentists/Dental Surgeons practicing in Ghana are therefore to take note and change their name tags, practitioner stamps and other relevant materials to reflect the change,” parts of GMA’s statement noted.
Health professional have been advised to wear their name tags at all times at work to ensure clear and easy identification in the interest of patient and public safety.”
Furthermore, the media have also been asked to take note of the new designations and refer to the doctors appropriately.
Below is the full statement: