Posted on: Thu 22-08-2013

WORRIED by the poor state of medical services in the country, the 8th Annual Scientific Conference and All Fellows Congress of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMNC) has reviewed the impact of postgraduate medical education on health care delivery in Nigeria.

  The Conference with theme “the impact of Postgraduate Medical Education on the quality of the Health care Delivery in Nigeria” held last week at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State, was designed to enable each of the 15 faculties of the college to showcase how they had impacted health care in the country.

  The sub-theme highlighted how to broaden the scope of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), how to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, how to improve child health ‘instead of marrying all our daughters at tender age’ and how to improve oral health for overall healthy living.

  A renowned emeritus professor of pediatrics, Prof. Adobe Adeniyi, who delivered the guest lecture, said the College has produced no fewer than 4000 specialists in various fields of medicine and experts medial services are now available in Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres in different parts of the country. 

  Adeniyi disclosed that NPMCN has, since its inception, produced 524 specialists in its Faculty of Obstetrics and Gynaecology: 457 in the faculty of Internal Medicine and 434 in the Faculty of Surgery among others.

  Adeniyi explained: “By training our specialists locally, we have saved our nation billions of naira in foreign exchange and produced experts and scholars that man our hospitals and serve with distinction within the health care institutions. 

  “Experts service has become available in fairly good measure to the Teaching hospitals and Federal Medical Centers. Indeed, a significant majority 85 to 90 per cent of the specialist component of doctors in Nigeria today are products of our college.”

  Adeniyi who is also one of the pioneering fellow of the College, further disclosed that the NPMCN had continued to have ‘profoundly positive’ effect on all aspects of health care services and delivery in Nigeria, especially the hospital sector.

  “We have also played major roles in research, elucidating disease patterns in the country, breaking myths about rarity of some conditions that were believed to be non-existent but are just as commonly found in Nigeria.

  “The standards set to train our post graduates were very high but the products were excellent and they hold their own the world over whether in the USA, Europe, Austratlia, South Africa etc.” 

  Also in his speech at the conference, the NPMCN President, Prof. Victor Wakwe said: “The theme of the conference was designed to enable each of the 15 faculties of the college to showcase how they had impacted health care in the country.

   “The sub-theme would highlight how to broaden the scope of the National Health Insurance Scheme, how to reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases, how to improve child health “instead of marrying all our daughters at tender age” and how to improve oral health for overall healthy living.”

  In an earlier press briefing on the conference, the Chairman, Local Organising Committee, Prof. Olusegun Ojo had observed that the conference was being held at a time the nation was experience an upsurge in the incidence of non-communicable diseases.

  He reiterated that the college, in its four decades, had proven its mettle in the international comity of postgraduate colleges of medicines adding that its graduates could be found in all parts of the world.

  “Today, the larger proportion of the consultants and lecturers and professors in medicine in Nigeria are Fellows of the College,” he said.

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