Nathaniel Shaibu
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has inducted 178 medical and dental graduates, following an assessment test conducted by the Council at the University College Hospital, Ibadan in June.
The inductees, comprising 172 medical and 6 dental graduates, were sworn into the medical profession, at the Council’s head office in Kaura, Abuja, yesterday.
The Chairman of the occasion, who is also the Chairman of the MDCN, Professor Abba Hassan, said the examination was necessary, to assess the quality of candidates, trained outside the country. He revealed that the 178 inductees represented only 27.5% of the total number of foreign-trained graduates who had taken the assessment test.
He said “It is a privilege and an honour to welcome you all to this induction of the foreign trained Medical and Dental graduates who passed the assessment examination held at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo state in June this year.
“I once more wish to emphasise the necessity of conducting this examination which is to assess the quality of candidates trained outside the country.
“It is worthy of note that a total number of 647 Medical and Dental graduates appeared for the June 2022 examination and out of this number, 172 Medical graduates (26.5 per cent) and 6 (0.93 per cent) Dental graduates passed; giving a total of 178 successful candidates.
“The overall percentage pass was 27.5 per cent. The Regional experience of the African students studying overseas particularly in Eastern Block has shown a great deficiency in their training.
“While MDCN recorded 27.5 per cent pass at the June 2022 assessment examination, Ghana recorded 20 per cent and South Africa recorded 27 per cent in similar examinations”.
Prof. Hassan said the difference in pass rates of students, showed that students who attended Eastern block schools, would need to attend remediation programmes in the country, to be at par with their home-schooled counterparts.
He further called on the federal and state governments to build more medical institutions, to cater to the needs of those who aspired to build a career in the medical profession, as against having to attend foreign schools.
“We appreciate that as long as there are inadequate vacancies to absorb qualified candidates in our Medical and Dental Colleges, some have to go abroad for Medical and Dental training.
“This is why MDCN continues to encourage Federal and State Governments and philanthropists, to invest more in the establishment of medical schools,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, represented by Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister, Dr. David Atuwo, advised the inductees to abide by the ethics of the profession, as well as prioritise the well-being of patients who will be in their care.
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