Former Ghana police officer earns his PhD at UMass Chan; returns as Graduate Entry Pathway director - UMass Medical School

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Akwasi Duah brings idiosyncratic acquisition to caller presumption guiding vocation changers

UMass Chan Medical School Communications

January 03, 2023

Akwasi Duah, RN, PhD’17

Akwasi Duah, RN, PhD’17, took a winding way connected his mode to a vocation arsenic a caregiver person and educator. Now, arsenic manager of the Graduate Entry Pathway program of the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing astatine UMass Chan Medical School, helium is successful a presumption to usher others successful the profession.

The Graduate Entry Pathway programme provides individuals with bachelor’s degrees successful fields different than nursing a pathway to nursing licensure and past either a Doctor of Nursing Practice oregon PhD successful nursing. Dr. Duah, adjunct prof of nursing, tin subordinate to the career-changers helium is present mentoring.

Duah grew up successful Accra, the superior of Ghana. He earned a bachelor’s grade successful societal sciences and economics astatine the University of Cape Coast successful Ghana, and served successful the Ghana Police Service earlier moving to the United States successful 2004.

“In Ghana, the nursing assemblage was usually reserved for women and there’s this taste stigma, particularly arsenic a man, if you privation to get into nursing,” said Dr. Duah. “But successful the U.S., I realized that it doesn’t substance what you’ve done successful the past; you tin bash immoderate you privation to do. I decided to prosecute a vocation that I loved each my life,” said Duah.

Duah earned his PhD astatine the Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing successful 2017. His dissertation was a qualitative survey connected household members who attraction for relatives struggling with substance usage disorder. Caregivers play a large relation successful attraction and recovery, but are not often studied, according to Duah.

“Human behaviour is similar a cloud,” said Duah. “You tin spot the unreality moving, and possibly consciousness it; but if you scope retired to drawback it, you’re coming up with nothing. Nursing is not conscionable the skills we larn with the IVs. The facet of quality interaction sets nursing isolated from each different disciplines.”

Prior to his instrumentality to UMass Chan arsenic a module member, Duah worked arsenic a registered caregiver astatine McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric teaching infirmary of Harvard Medical School, and an adjunct prof astatine Fitchburg State University. While serving arsenic interim manager of the Graduate Entry Pathway program, Duah was struck by however overmuch helium loved the job. He was named manager of the programme successful September.

“Something I find rewarding astir my occupation is the radical I enactment with,” Duah said. “We’re open-minded and squad oriented. We enactment each different and marque the workplace fun. If the radical you enactment with are amazing, it makes things easy. For me, that’s my colleagues and my students. Our students are intelligent, fantastic and person divers backgrounds. I marque them alert that I’m not an adept successful this field. We are each present to larn from each other.”

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