A CASE AGAINST THE MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMME PROPOSAL OF THE WEST AFRICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

Abstract

Following the meeting held in Accra, Ghana in September 2012, a draft proposal on Harmonization of Surgical Training was submitted for final consideration by the four Colleges in the West African Sub- region. The Council of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) was mandated to produce a Membership Curriculum separate from the Part 1 programme of the Fellowship Examination. This, in essence, means that there is a proposal to have a Membership Examination and certification in addition to the well established Fellowship Examination and certification. This means that there will be a lower standard of examination for Membership certification than the Fellowship Examination. The President of WACS in the presidential address in Liberia at the 52™ annual meeting made an allusion to “the reluctance of Faculty of Surgery to go along with the Membership” plan. We fully support the reluctance of the Faculty of Surgery in this regard, and the following will explain our position. It was George F. Will writing for Newsweek Magazine some years back that stated that what people learn from History is that people do not learn from History. This statement could not be truer when we consider this proposal.