Dr Quarshie

 Today, I start with Dr Emmanuel Quarshie in my focus on personali­ties in order to highlight their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland.

Dr Quarshie is a retired dentist in Finland and a well-respected member/ elder in the Ghanaian com­munity in Finland. He studied dentistry finishing with a doctorate degree in dentistry, which he got in 1979 from the University of Erlangen-Nürn­berg, Germany and worked at the University Clinic in the department of Kariology and Parodontology.

Dr Quarshie moved to Fin­land with his family in 1980, and went to the University of Turku to do a three-month course, to be eligible for a license in dentistry and to be able to practise dentistry in Finland.

He also took a course in social medicine at the Uni­versity of Tampere (Finland). These were mandatory cours­es before he got the license to practise dentistry until his retirement from the City of Vantaa (Finland) dental health services in 2014.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS A DENTIST

It is only fair to give to readers Dr Quarshie’s accom­plishments, as I wrote the last time, as part of the success stories of various personali­ties of Ghanaian descent in Finland and to highlight their exploits both in the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.

During his working life, Dr Quarshie was an accomplished dental surgeon. He got a num­ber of awards and honours. At a point, he was the only Black or African dentist in Finland. He felt the pressure on him to perform well in his field in order not to attract any nega­tive criticism, especially from his superiors.

When Dr Quarshie finished his doctorate degree, he initially worked as a dentist assistant in Germany where he met his Finnish wife who was also a medical student. Dr Quarshie excelled in his short time work as assistant dentist after his studies in Germany.

They worked in Germany from 1982 to 1987. Dr Quarsh­ie’s professors were actually impressed with his work output, and he was willing to stay except that in those days in the 1980s, things were simply not easy.

Therefore, after his wife completed her own studies, they moved to Finland (his wife’s country) where Dr Quarshie took two courses in order to secure the license to practise as a dentist. He worked for almost two years in the western part of Fin­land.

After that, he moved to the south with his family and worked at the Terveyskeskus Health Centre.

In all, Dr Quarshie worked for 28 years in Vantaa and other places in Finland. He worked with many top den­tists in Finland and success­fully performed complicated dental surgeries.

Dr Quarshie advises people to go for medical and dental check-ups as often as recom­mended in Finland. “Even if you think you do not feel any pain, you still have to check it and seek attention from the expert”, he says.

LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT

March 2024 will be 11 years since Dr Quarshie re­tired as a dentist. Initially, he was consulted even immedi­ately after his retirement.

He now lives in Vantaa with his wife. Born in Accra (Otublohum), he moved to Germany to pursue further studies and married his Finnish wife whom he met in Germany. Now in his late 70s, Dr Quarshie devotes most of his time to his two grown-up children, and his grandchil­dren.

He also engages in farming during the summer periods in order to keep active and have organic farm produce.

ACTIVE IN THE GHANAIAN COMMUNITY

Dr Quarshie has been very active in the Ghanaian community. He is very active in the larger Ghana Union Fin­land, and has chaired many functions organised by the Union, which is a non-govern­mental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.

He has also been an active member of the Suomen-Gha­na-Seurary (Finnish-Gha­na-Friendship Association), another non-governmental or­ganisation for the welfare of Ghanaian migrants in Finland.

Dr Quarshie has been a counsellor and mentor, and has guided many young Gha­naian migrants on their career paths.

By Perpetual Crentsil

Email: perpetualcrentsil@yahoo.com