The first organized group of African doctors in Ghana was the Gold Coast Medical Practitioners Union which was formed in 1933 to act as a vehicle for redressing grievances of African medical officers in government employment. It was jointly founded by three Ghanaian doctors namely F. V.Nanka -Bruce (President and Spokesperson), C. E. Reindorf and W.A.C Nanka Bruce with J.E. Hutton Mills as secretary.
Subsequently in January 1953, the Ghana Branch of the British Medical Association was inaugurated following the formation of an African government in 1951. With Dr F.V .Nanka Bruce again as its first President, the Branch quickly gained legal recognition because of its relationship with the parent BMA.
Five years later, on January 4, 1958, the Gold Coast Medical Practitioners Union and the Ghana Branch of the British Medical Association officially ceased to exist having been amalgamated to form the Ghana Medical Association. With an initial membership of forty, the GMA was inaugurated at the Arden Hall of the Ambassador Hotel at Accra by Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first President, then the Prime Minister with Dr C. O Easmon as its first President.
With a current membership of over 7,000, the GMA is housed in a modern secretariat in Korle-Bu opposite the auditorium of the University of Ghana Medical School. The GMA is made up of ten Divisions whose Chairmen together with the National Executive Committee and a representative each from the Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners , Ghana Dental Association and the Junior Doctors Society, constitute the National Executive Council. The National Executive Council meets every other month to deliberate on matters affecting the association. The highest decision making body of the Association is the General Assembly which meets at the Annual General Meetings held in different parts of the country.
The GMA is a member of the Confederation of African Medical Associations and Societies (CAMAS), Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) and the World Medical Association).
Some of the activities carried out by the GMA each year include the Annual National Health Week, Annual Public Lectures, Seminars on Continuous Professional Development etc
The GMA has a membership of over 7,000 medical and dental practitioners working in all sixteen (16) regions of Ghana covering ten (10) Divisions in the country. Members cut across the full spectrum of the profession: Consultants, Researchers, Academicians as well as Specialists and other ranks of Medical Officers; and work in the public sector, private sector, faith-based organisations and quasi-Government institutions, as well as in academia and research. The Association is made up of ten Divisions whose Chairmen together with the National Executive Committee
and a representative each from the Society of Private Medical and Dental Practitioners, Ghana Dental Association and the Junior Doctors Society, constitute the National Executive Council. The National Executive Council meets every other month to deliberate on matters affecting the Association. The highest decision-making body of the Association is the General Assembly, which meets at the Annual General Meetings held in different parts of the country.
