KUMASI, Ghana—Doctors from the University of Michigan Health System are part of a new partnership in Africa treating chronic ear infections—a common problem across the continent that often leads to disabling hearing loss.

The physicians have helped create a program providing surgical training to doctors in Kumasi, the second-biggest city in the West African nation of Ghana.

“The main goal is to teach the doctors in Kumasi to do everything they need to do to take care of their patients,” said Dr. Mark Prince of the U-M Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. “We also want to get them to the level they can train medical students, residents and even other doctors from elsewhere in West Africa.”

The collaboration is based at the 1,200-bed Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

Ghana desperately needs more otolaryngologists, commonly known as ear, nose and throat doctors, or ENTs. The country only has between 20 and 30 ENT doctors serving a population of 26 million. U-M Health System alone has 35 such physicians.

More information:

• Full story: Helping Africa hear: Creating an ambitious new partnership to train surgeons in Ghana
• UofMHealthBlogs.org post: A collaboration, not a mission trip U-M physicians train their Ghanaian ear, nose and throat colleagues
• UofMHealthBlogs.org post: Hoping for a domino effect A physician has a challenging first day on the job in Ghana