P&S Alum, an Acclaimed Orthopedic Surgeon, Returns to His Homeland

After nearly dying at age 8 from a severe gastric illness but surviving because of Western medicine, Oheneba Boachie-Adjei decided to travel from Ghana to the United States to become a physician. He arrived in this country at age 21 with $12 in his pocket. By 1980, he had an MD degree from P&S.

In an article in the July 2014 issue of AAOS Now, the monthly publication of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Dr. Boachie-Adjei discusses his longtime dream of returning to Ghana.

By 1980, I had achieved my goal of earning a medical degree—that was step one of my plan to return to Ghana to provide medical care,” said Dr. Boachie-Adjei. “Step two was to pursue a specialty practice and raise funds. I knew if I was going to go back and provide care to underserved patients, it would require a great deal of money, and Ghana’s government was in no position to provide it.

Dr. Boachie-Adjei built a career as an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He will soon return to Ghana to run an orthopedic hospital built by the nonprofit organization he created in 1998 to provide orthopedic and spine care to underserved populations in Ghana and other countries. Dr. Boachie-Adjei received the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons Humanitarian Award in 2004. It is among many awards he has received, including a humanitarian award from the Albert Schweitzer International University.

Now chief emeritus of the scoliosis service at the Hospital for Special Surgery, Dr. Boachie-Adjei will return this fall to be “president, CEO, surgeon-in-chief, medical director, and janitor” of the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine Orthopedic Hospital in Accra, capital city of Ghana.

Read more in the article.