Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute Holds First Graduation

The Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute on Tuesday, September 21, 2021, held its first graduation ceremony in Accra at the Dor Events Annex.

The Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute was established in February 2020 with 82 students enrolled for the Medicine and Counter Assistant Programme.

It was established to train and impact knowledge for service and also to achieve the highest standards in pharmacy practice as well as promote public health and safety.

Despite being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, the enrolment continued with students taking the 6-month course successfully without recording any Covid-19 cases.

They had three months of theory and three months of practical sessions including an internship at the Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited factory.

Out of the 69 students who were presented for the Pharmacy Council examination, 66 passed while three others failed.

During the graduation service, Head of Education, Training and Research, Pharmacy Council, Ghana, Mrs Cynthia Yeboah Mintah urged the graduands not to relent on their efforts to pursue further studies.

She advised women not to allow marriage, pregnancy and or childbirth to stop them from pursuing further education in order to reach greater heights in life.

“I would like to entreat you not to rest on your laurels but pursue further studies. I am challenging you in three years from now, about 60-70 percent of you should have added some value to yourselves by enrolling in other programmes like HND in dispensing technology and programme in non-related fields of interest to you.”

She added that, “Others may choose to learn a new language like French to enable communication with francophones from neighbouring countries we may encounter.”

Mrs Cynthia Yeboah Mintah also advised the graduands to always wear their uniforms for easy identification in the communities.

“In every field of practice, identification of the practitioner is key. It is against this backdrop that uniforms have been introduced for all cadres of practitioners- pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and MCAs. It is therefore mandatory to wear the prescribed uniforms as you go out to your places of work,” she stated.

The Head of Corporate Affairs at the Tobinco Group of Companies, and aspiring Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) President,  Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour also urged the MCA graduands to work in truth and respect as they go into the field of work. 

He advised the graduands to be good ambassadors of the school and not repeat the sickening work attitudes of some MCA practitioners who end up collapsing Pharmacy and or chemical shops.

The Administrator of the Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute, Mr Isaac Kwabena Opare Yeboah said as part of the school’s learning process, it embarks on regular industrial tour to the Entrance Pharmaceuticals and Research Centre’s Factory to experience firsthand the process of manufacturing medicines.

“Students have the opportunity to witness the work and process that goes into producing our medicines and they appreciate the quality of products thus sending good messages out to the public and customers during their attachment and on the job market hence they become ambassadors of Entrance Pharmaceutical products,” he said.

Out of those who graduated on Tuesday, Mr Isaac Kwabena Opare Yeboah noted that the Executive Chairman of the Tobinco Group of Companies, Elder Nana Amo Tobbin I had given 20 the opportunity to work with the Group permanently.

He encouraged those who want to take the MCA course to contact the Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute for enrollment, adding that there are more opportunities after schooling at the Institute.

One of the graduands of the Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute, Mr Henry Nyarekeh Forbah also said,”As the first MCA’s of TPTI, we feel proud to have an affiliation with Tobinco Group of Companies, for that matter, we want to assure the CEO that we shall work professionally hard to promote the existing good image of his companies.”

He continued that, “We are therefore encouraging friends out there who are aspiring to become MCAs that they should look no other place but quickly enroll with Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Training Institute.”