That more than two hundred foreign trained doctors failed an induction examination that would qualify them to be licensed to practice in this country has raised a lot of concern for the students, their parents, the medical profession and the country as well. The exam which took place between November 15 and 17 followed three months’ training at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. A total of 680 doctors sat for the exams but only 240 or about 35 per cent passed while 440 of them or 65 per cent failed.

 

However, the students made many allegations against Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria [MDCN] which conducted the exam. They cited irregularities such as the examination questions were not part of the curriculum and a baseless marking scheme. The students, accompanied by their parents, went to the Senate to lay their case and demanded justice. They trained in countries such as China, Ukraine, Sudan, UK, US, Egypt, Russia and the Caribbean. 

 

Senate Committee Chairman on Health Senator Lanre Tejuoso [APC, Ogun] said his committee would investigate the matter and come up with a position the following week. The committee is yet to submit its report and Senate has suspended plenary for two weeks for budget defence but it will resume tomorrow, Tuesday, December 19th. Medical and  Dental Council of Nigeria  is a reputable organisation responsible for having  a final say through rigorous examinations on who is qualified to practice as a doctor/dentist in Nigeria. Its reputation is therefore at stake if it allows unqualified persons to practice medicine or dentistry in Nigeria and endanger the lives of patients.

 

On the other hand, its entire mechanism of verifying foreign trained medical doctors has been called into question by these allegations. The allegation that MDCN is also scheming to limit the number of doctors that will practice in Nigeria is also damning and must be thoroughly investigated. The Federal Ministry of Health should as a matter of urgency delve into this problem and uncover the truth. There should be a vigorous awareness campaign on which foreign universities our students can attend and that not all foreign universities that are marketed by agents are recognised in Nigeria. This is not limited to medicine; it applies to other courses too. State governments should take note of this because many people take it as a business to consult for foreign universities, with many masquerading to be so while being only glorified secondary schools. 

 

Due to limited space in our universities and the ‘status’ of being trained abroad, there is a rush to study medicine abroad which people hope would increase the number of doctors in Nigeria which is grossly inadequate. In January this year, the Head of ENT Department at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital Professor Titus Ibekwe said Nigeria had a ratio of one doctor to 6,000 patients against the recommendations of the World Health Organisation, WHO, of one doctor to 600 patients. 

If indeed such a large proportion of foreign trained doctors deserve to fail MDCN’s exams, then it will create suspicion in Nigeria about the quality of many foreign medical schools, at least in some particular countries. For instance in July this year more than half of the foreign trained doctors and dentists failed such examinations to qualify them to practice in Nigeria. Out of the total 334 doctors and seven dentists who graduated from foreign medical colleges and sat for the exam only 160 doctors and four dentists passed, or 40 per cent.

 

At their induction at MDCN headquarters, Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole called the pass rate “worrisome.” Apparently the current exam failure attracts attention because the students and their parents went to the Senate to complain. Going forward, our medical schools should be enlarged to accommodate more students and discourage students going to non-standard foreign schools to study medicine and other courses.