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WEST AFRICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS
COLLEGE OUEST AFRICAIN DES CHIRURGIENS
After a brilliant undergraduate and postgraduate career in the
United Kingdom, a young Camerounian decided to return to West
Africa to continue his march to the excellence of the science
and the art of Surgery .It was in the late months of 1959 and
his name was Victor Anoma Ngu. On the same flight was Dr Charles
Bowesman, a British Surgeon in the services of the Ghana
Government at Kumasi. Either as a diversion from fear or to ward
off the boredom of air travel, they discussed the need for
Surgeons in practice in West Africa to meet occasionally and
exchange experiences in surgical problems that relate to the
local milieu. When the plane landed in Accra. It was the last
time that Victor saw or heard from Dr Bowesman but it was the
beginning of the associations of Surgeons West Africa.
The first Council Meeting of the then Association of Surgeons of
West Africa was held in Ibadan, Oyo state Nigeria on December
3,1960 .It was also the to be the venue of its first Annual
Conference which was held in 1961.Annual Conferences have been
held ever since .In 1969, the Association 's objective of
promoting post-graduate education and training in surgery led to
the establishment in Accra of the West African college of
Surgeons to run "pari passu" with the Association of Surgeons of
West Africa (ASWA).In 1973 ,at Benin City the functions assets
and liabilities were transferred to the College while the
associations ceased to exist.
In January 1975,the College was by resolution inaugurated as a
constituent College of the West African Postgraduate Medical
College (WAPMC) a specialized agency of the West African Health
Community.
The financial constraints, which hitherto had accounted for the
slow progress of the College, loosened. The Structure of
Faculties and the regulations of the examinations quickly
emerged in addition to the Faculty syllabi. The first
examinations under the WAPMC Programme took place in October
1979.The examination centers were in Ibadan, Accra and Monrovia
.The College has intensified its training Programme by the
frequent organization of postgraduate courses in Lagos, Accra
,Benin , and Ibadan. Many more are planned in in more diverse
centers in collaboration with existing institutions in the
area.The Diplomas of the College are recognized in the
participating countries and guarantied by the signatories of the
West African Health Community Treaty.
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