The Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, has blamed the inability of many medical graduates to secure placement for internship on the loss of accreditation by many state-owned hospitals.

 

He made this known at the fourth induction into the medical profession of 34 graduates of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State. Sanusi said, “It is regrettable that many state hospitals have lost their accreditation for internship, therefore, the federal institutions we have are overwhelmed. That is why there is scarcity of placement for internship for inductees.

“The state hospitals, after we made our enquiries, we discovered they don’t have the fund to pay their (inductees) salaries.  Sometimes, it takes two to three years before some of the inductees can get placement and without this, they can’t proceed. It is highly regrettable.”

 

He warned the inductees against participating in industrial action when they eventually secure placement, saying that the stipulated period of internship remained 12 uninterrupted weeks on each posting. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, enjoined the graduates to devote their professional energy to not only their patients’ needs, but also to the unmet health needs of the society as a whole.

 

He also expressed confidence in the ability of the inductees to make a difference by making Nigeria’s health system more efficient. He disclosed that the three best graduates would be given automatic placement for internship by the university.