The suspects
The Medical and Dental Council, in collaboration with the police, have apprehended a 34-year-old medical school dropout, who posed as a cardiothoracic surgeon, to enrol prospective students into his phony medical school.
The suspect Jerryson Ameworgbe Gidisu was arrested with one Dr Joseph Kofi Gyanteh, 39, at Somanya in the Eastern Region.
The two suspects, according to reports, created a website and put the pictures of Kings and Queens Teaching Hospital and other information there for interested persons to contact them.
They also put adverts on social media for over a month.
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council, Dr Eli Kwasi Atikpui, said the council received several complaints about the activities of the two suspects recently and decided to investigate them.
The regulatory body in charge of medical practitioners discovered that one Professor Jerryson Ameworgbe Gidisu, claimed to be a cardio surgeon, as well as president and CEO of Kings and Queens Teaching Hospital located at Somanya in the Eastern Region.
On the website, it was discovered that the said hospital with about 3,000 beds and specilized units had started operating.
Names of other prominent specialised doctors were also displayed on the website.
Further investigations by the council revealed that there was no hospital at Somanya.
Through intelligence, the suspects were arrested at Somanya.
Upon interrogations, Jerryson Gidisu claimed he had his medical training at Jasikan Training College in the Volta Region and proceeded to offer his PHD at Beijing University College of medicine.
He also claimed he also undertook the medical officers’ assistants course at Penn Foster College and Hebei North Medical University in China.
The suspect also claimed he served as admissions director for foreign students at Beijing University College of Medicine before travelling to Ghana to establish his own hospital and medical school.
The registrar averred that the suspect could however not provide any certificate from any of the schools he had cited.
The two are currently in the custody of the Accra Regional Police Command assisting in investigations.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey