The recurring poor performance of foreign trained medical and dental
graduates, the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has
planned to probe some of the new foreign schools to determine their
fitness to offer acceptable medical degrees.
Minister of State for Health, Osagie Ehanire, who disclosed this at
the induction of foreign-trained medical and dental graduates in Abuja
yesterday, said the investigation would enable MDCN differentiate
these institutions from genuine ones and compile its findings to draw
a comprehensive list of accredited and non-accredited medical and
dental schools.
The minister, who advised that students should accept admission into
foreign medical schools only if they are accredited, says the Council
does its job of attesting young doctors’ knowledge and skills in
collaboration with the teaching hospitals which conduct adjustment
tutorials and assessment examinations.
He, therefore, asked students to check for accredited institutions on
the website of the International Medical Education Directory (IMED)
and World Directory of Medical Schools (WDoMS) subject to confirmation
by the MDCN.
He stated that the last examination in November 2017 at University of
Ilorin Teaching Hospital ended with a rather high failure rate,
raising alarm among students and their sponsors.
He said due to these concerns, the Federal Ministry of Health approved
the unusual resit examination in February 2018 to give a second chance
to candidates who did not fare well and that this yielded 51 more
successful candidates who are among inductees today, in addition to
those who passed the regular April 2018 examination.
He said: The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s (MDCN)
responsibility is to ensure that medical doctors and dentists trained
within and outside Nigeria have acquired the right competencies to
contribute meaningfully to the Nigerian health sector.
“This is not an easy task because of the challenges of the educational
system in Nigeria on one hand, and on the other hand, the fact that
Nigerians study in a wide variety of countries with widely varying
languages, academic cultures, medical curriculums and traditions of
education.
“The MDCN on its part should more than ever ensure persons and
professional institutions continuously monitor and evaluate medical
education and professional development.”
Ehanire stated that Nigeria faces a medical manpower shortage and in
finding ways to better the situation, the Federal Government has
considered strategies to retain home-grown doctors and encourage
return of Nigerian doctors in Diaspora.
Also, the Registrar of MDCN, Dr. Tajudeen Sanusi, who decried the
recurring poor performance of foreign-trained medical and dental
graduates, noted that the resit examination was conducted as a result
of the outcry that followed the outcome of the 2017 assessment
examination, which had a high failure rate.
He said the unsuccessful candidates became aggrieved and petitioned
the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Health whose
intervention led to the resit examination in February 2018.
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