EXpert has said that incessant strikes which has dominated the landscape of medical practice in public health service is the bane of residency training among Nigerian doctors. The 18th College President of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, NPMCN, Professor Rasheed Ajani Arogundade believes that incessant strike was the cause of frequent incomplete training syndrome among doctors.

 

To this end, NPMCN has declared that ,certification for institutional training and faculty vetting by admissions into college examinations will be guided by records of inactivity occasioned by strike actions in any accredited training institution.

 

Speaking in Lagos during his investiture ceremony as the College’s 18th President, Arogundade decried that such ugly situation has encroached on the length and quality of residency training of doctors.

Arogundade also regretted that unfortunately the strikes are embarked by the same resident doctors whose trainings stand to benefit from uninterrupted hospital services.

 

His words, “This unwholesome ‘incomplete training syndrome’ situation has compromised the ideal medical specialist training envisioned by our college. The college cannot turn away from the negative factors considered dangerous to the integrity of its oversight functions on training institutions accredited for the production of specialists of international standard for the nation.

 

“The quality of future medical care in the country is critically dependent on the quality of the current postgraduate medical training. This is so because the products of postgraduate medical training form the bulk of teachers and researchers in our medical colleges.”

 

The College President stressed that those affected by the syndrome are unable to pass the college’s final examinations after wasting a lot of Nigeria’s resources.

Arogundade however, declared that henceforth, certification for institutional training and faculty vetting by admissions into college examinations will be guided by records of inactivity occasioned by strike actions in any accredited training institution.

 

In his goodwill message,the President,Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, Dr Osahon Enabulele described the college as a major key player in the healthcare sector, urging the college to use the office for advocacy that would better the sector and Nigerians health status in general.

Enabulele charged the new College President to quickly settle to office and do that which is expected as prescribed by the Acts of 2004.

 

“He is to concern himself very aggressively more than what has been, with the issue of medical education and training, especially to ensure that we have seamless transition of trainees and consultants, in terms of infrastructural upgrading and mentorship. That will enable them to get used to modern infrastructure so that Nigerians can have the benefit of high skilled manpower.

 

“Also, it calls for the need to aggressively increase the production of quality specialists. If we can only have 4258 fellows so far produced by the college after 35 years, that tells you that we are having just 1 specialist to about 40, 000 Nigerians which certainly is not acceptable to us by all standards.

 

Vanguard