Congratulatory messages have been pouring in from Ghanaians from all walks of life on social media for Dr Mabel Banson, who has become the first certified Neurosurgeon to be trained in Ghana.
Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical speciality concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, surgical treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders that affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, central and peripheral nervous system.
A product of Holy Child Senior School in Cape Coast (1997year group) Dr Mabel Banson now joins the very rare group of Neurosurgeons in Ghana. Dr Banson’s feat raises the number of Neurosurgeons in Ghana to 16.
Meanwhile, in September this year, Ghana was introduced to the UpSurgeOn Academy’s training platform, which aims to improve the traditional approach to neurosurgery education through the use of 3D technologies applied to surgical simulation.
The latest global training technology breaks down the challenges of surgery into various brain boxes, which were 3D printed images of real-time brain, showing real-time situations and pathologies in the brain.
It also comes with a software that is downloaded on a mobile phone or tablet to enable the learner to scan any part of the brain, and also freely interact with the models through a combination of virtual reality and these actual simulated brain boxes giving surgeons the experience of a surgery.
There is a slight difference between a Neurosurgeon and Neurologists even though they are both specialized doctors in the treatment of medical problems affecting the central nervous system, which controls most of the functions of the body and mind consisting of the brain and spinal cord.
While Neurosurgeons focus on the surgical aspect of treatment and often serve as consultants to other health specialists due to their high practical knowledge and skills with the human nervous system, the Neurologist uses alternative forms to treat patients with diseases and conditions such as headaches, Alzheimer’s disease, sleeping disorders, pain, and brain tumours.
It is therefore very important to always know the difference between physicians when trying to get diagnosed for a particular medical condition.
