By Blessing Odega
Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) has commenced training of 24 doctors from various teaching hospitals in Nigeria on Temporal Bone Dissection.
The Chief Medical Director (CMD), Dr Pokop Bupwatda, who declared the three days training open on Thursday, said the initiative was in collaboration with the West African College of Surgeons, Faculty of Otorhinolaryngology at the Jack Van Doren Hough Temporal Bone Dissection Laboratory in JUTH.
Bupwatda said the training would equip the doctors with basic skills and dexterity necessary for otological/neuro-otological surgeries through temporal bone dissection.
He added that the course would take the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)specialists through all processes of temporal bone dissection and cochlear implant.
According to him, the training will also equip the doctors with the skills to work on persons with various hearing impairments, and in turn, reduce the spate of medical tourism.
The CMD commended the Jacksonville Hearing and Balance Institute, Jacksonville,
Florida, U.S.A, led by the institute’s Director, Dr James Green, for providing resource
persons and for conducting cochlear implant which is highly capital intensive.
He enjoined the participants to pay attention during the training to get the best from it.
Earlier in a remark, Dr Kokong Daniel, the Head of the ENT Department at JUTH, said the training, which is the third of its kind holding in the institute, trained 70 doctors from various teaching hospitals in Nigeria on temporal bone dissection.
One of the participants at the training, Dr Uhalla Sunday from Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Osun State, said he was optimistic that his skills would have improved as a doctor and surgeon particularly as an ENT trainee.
He said as temporal bone dissection is a skill required for cochlear implant and for the rehabilitation of persons with hearing impairment.
Similarly, Dr Fauziya Muktar from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital Kano, said the training would help improve her skills to provide succour to patients with hearing impairment.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training commenced on Feb. 26 and would end on Feb. 28.( NAN
