Silas Rofino Amu Dodu, (11 December 1924 – 2007) was a

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and academic. He was a professor of medicine, the second Dean at the

University of Ghana Medical School The University of Ghana Medical School also UGMS is the medical school of Ghana's first public research institution, the University of Ghana. It is currently located at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. The medical school was first plann ...

and a pioneer cardiologist in Ghana. He and others have been described as pioneers of the medical profession in Ghana.

Early life and education

Silas Rofino Amu Dodu was born on 11 December 1924 in

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), to the

Very Reverend The Very Reverend (abbreviated as The Very Revd or The Very Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. The definite article "t ...

Edward Maxwell Dodu, a Presbyterian minister who served as the Moderator of the

Presbyterian Church of Ghana The Presbyterian Church of Ghana is a Protestant denomination in Ghana. The denomination is considered mainstream Reformed Protestant, missions-focused and ecumenically-minded in theology, practices and traditions.The oldest, continuously exis ...

between 1955 and 1958. His mother was Margaret Lovering Dodu (''née'' Pinto). After attending Presbyterian mission primary school and the boarding middle school, the

Salem School, Osu The Salem School, Osu, or the Osu Presbyterian Boys’ Boarding School or simply, Osu Salem, formerly known as the Basel Mission Middle School'','' is an all boys’ residential middle or junior secondary school located in the suburb of Osu in ...

, he had his secondary education at

Achimota School Achimota School (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra Reg ...

from 1932 to 1945. He obtained his medical degree from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

and performed research on diabetes in Ghana.

Career

Dodu returned to Ghana in 1953 already a member of the

Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

. According to the Ghana Medical Association; he rose to the consultant status of the Physician Specialist grade; he was special grade medical officer for four years at the

Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) is a public teaching hospital established in 1923 and located in the Ablekuma South District in the Accra Metropolitan District of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. It is the only public tertiary hospital in th ...

. In 1958, he co-founded the

Ghana Medical Association The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) represents physicians, surgeons and dentists working throughout Ghana. It was established in 1958 and is divided into ten divisions representing each region of Ghana as at the end of 2018. History The earliest ...

together with

Charles Odamtten Easmon Charles Odamtten Easmon or C. O. Easmon, popularly known as Charlie Easmon, (22 September 1913 – 19 May 1994) was a medical doctor and academic who became the first Ghanaian to formally qualify as a surgeon specialist and the first Dean of t ...

, Anum Barnor, Evans Anfom and Schandorf. He was president of the association from 1966 to 1968. In 1965 he became the first head of the department of medicine at the

. He became the vice dean and later dean of the medical school. He joined the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

as the chief of the cardiovascular diseases unit. He was also a founding member of the

Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) is a learned society for the arts and sciences based in Accra, Ghana. The institution was founded in November 1959 by Kwame Nkrumah with the aim to promote the pursuit, advancement and dissemination ...

Personal life

In 1953, he married Joan Handley, daughter of William Handley, a cutlery designer. Together they had four daughters.

Death

Dodu died in 2007 at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodu, Silas 1924 births 2007 deaths Alumni of Achimota School Alumni of the University of Sheffield Ghanaian cardiologists Ghanaian Presbyterians Academic staff of the University of Ghana 20th-century Ghanaian educators Osu Salem School alumni Academic staff of the University of Ghana Medical School Fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Death

See also

References