Silas Dodu


Silas Rofino Amu Dodu, was a Ghanaian physician and academic. He was a professor of medicine, the second Dean at the University of Ghana Medical School 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 was born on 11 December, 1924 in Accra to the Very Reverend Edward Maxwell Dodu, a Presbyterian minister who served as the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana between 1955 and 1958. His mother was Margaret Lovering Dodu. After attending Presbyterian mission primary school and the boarding middle school, the Salem School, Osu, he had his secondary education at Achimota School from 1932 to 1945. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Sheffield and performed research on diabetes in Ghana.

Career

Silas returned to Ghana in 1953 already a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London. 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. In 1958, he co-founded the Ghana Medical Association together with Charles Odamtten Easmon, Anum Barnor, Evans Anfom and Schandorf. He became president of the association from 1966 to 1968. In 1965 he became the first head of the department of medicine at the University of Ghana Medical School. He became the vice dean and later dean of the medical school. He joined the World Health Organisation in Geneva as the chief of the cardiovascular diseases unit. He was also a founding member of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Personal life

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

Death

He died in 2007.