Medical council seeks more years of training for doctors
From Saxone Akhaine, Kaduna
THE perceived rot in the country's educational institutions may have spread to the medical field as the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has called for more years in the pre-registration period of doctors.
The call was made at the weekend at the Arewa House, Kaduna, venue of the annual general meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
Prof. Shiana Gyoh, the national chairman of MDCN, said the call was borne out of a serious concern for the fallen standard of Nigerian medical doctors both in the teaching and private hospitals.
Gyoh said the situation in the hospitals was getting precarious as doctors no longer demonstrated adequate skills in treating patients.
"The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) is seriously concerned that the standard of medical colleges and dental education in Nigeria has so significantly fallen.
"Action must be immediately taken to prevent our doctors and dentists from becoming quacks", he said.
Gyoh argued that if the control machinery already put in place to stem the tide were not forthcoming with the desired results, the body would have no choice but to call for more years of the pre-registration period of medical practitioners.
He added that the council had given all the training institutions for doctors a maximum of three years to improve on the quality of people they turn out.
The MDCN, as an interim measure, has asked all consultants in and out of the teaching hospitals, universities and their financiers to strictly observe issues bordering on supervision, proliferation of medical colleges, slipped standard of older schools, induction of new medical graduates, strengthening council presence in the states, continuing professional development and attending meetings of the council.
He also disclosed that the council would not hesitate to wield the big stick on erring professionals who go against the directives as regards pre-registration of doctors and dentists.
He said: "There is an unprecedented proliferation of colleges for training doctors based more on political posturing than genuine commitment and funding".
Gyoh noted that about 15 new colleges are being set up across the country, arguing that "medical colleges are capital-intensive and the workers of international repute needed particularly are hard to get".
He lamented that the inability of the country to maintain initial standards, loss of medical teachers and admission of more students than facilities permit have placed many of the established medical colleges in danger of closure.
