FEATURE: Yankah makes Selma one of many stops

Framed diplomas, certificates and citations of awards cover the long wall behind the desk in the third-floor office of Baptist Medical Center Tower, where Dr. H. DeGraft Yankah has practiced urology since 1996. Covering his more than 20 years of study, residencies and seminars, the documents are a testament to his medical career as well as a guide to the many places he has called home. Some were issued in London, Royal College of Surgeons, others in England's Kent, Devon and Suffolk, and in Scotland, Canada, Mt. Sinai, New York, and Howard University in Washington, D.C. But pride of place, says Yankah, belongs to his native Ghana, where he began his medical education.

Located in the West of Africa, Ghana lies between the Ivory Coast on the west and Togo on the east. An age-old British colony described as "a place of rolling grasslands, beautiful beaches and one of the three rain forests in the world with a pathway over the trees," Yankah says. "The temperature in Ghana is never below 70 degrees, with an average 75 to 90, plenty of rain and great beauty."

In his faintly accented, beautifully modulated English, Yankah speaks of Ghana's wildlife preserves "where elephants, lions, gorillas and pygmy hippos roam freely."

He adds, with obvious pride, "our government is a democracy, stable for the past 30 years, with elections every four years and a smooth transition each time."

Yankah's visits home are not so frequent as in his first years abroad, but his parents and family often make the long journey here and he retains many of his native customs, such as Ghanan recipes.

With smiling enthusiasm, he admits to his love of cooking. "Black-eyed peas, lentils, split-pea soup, but little meat, other than chicken and fish. Colon cancer is rare in Ghana because of the high fiber diet."

He is equally enthusiastic about his decision to come to Selma, commenting "I have no regrets. I was considering three other options when Kim Ballard called me from what was then a Columbia-owned facility. On the third visit I made up my mind." Laughing, he recalls "I told Kim Selma might be a dangerous place for a black doctor with kinky hair. I am happy here."

His practice is large and includes surgery of kidney, bladder and prostate problems. His office is open five days weekly, with surgery in the morning and office visits Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. And he enjoys his work.

"It covers a whole wide range, interesting and challenging. Twenty years ago prostate cancer patients were left to die. There was little success in treating women's problems with incontinence. Today, that has changed. We are much more open, there is much more knowledge and information available to our patients."

Outgoing, friendly and caring as he is, however, Yankah is shy and reserved in speaking of the successes of his practice. However, his certified urological nurse Mary Ann Foster, who does the initial evaluation of patients, is less reluctant.

"Dr. Yankah has a female fan club of patients, who suffered from incontinence due to bladder problems. Now, as one patient says, she can go 250 miles without stopping at a rest facility. And he is so successful with those prostate cancer patients who are terribly afraid of surgery, of being incontinent or impotent. He has none walking around wearing diapers," she says.

Yankah, she adds, is one of only two urological surgeons in Alabama who have perfected and use a certain method of surgery, which has proved to be very successful.

But, leaning forward over his desk, hands folded in front of him, an earnest express on his usually smiling features, Yankah requests, " Say that I do my best but people must not think I work miracles. That is God's field."