Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria Public Notice, on The Regulation of Medical Education, Practice and Discipline

Posted on: Wed 14-10-2015

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) has been inundated with enquiries from the general public and stakeholders in the medical and dental professions especially training institutions, on the above subject in view of recent publication by some sister regulatory bodies.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) is established by the Medical and Dental Practitioners' Act of 28 June 1988 (Nowcap M8 LFN 2004) as the successor body to the Nigerian Medical Council established by the Medical and dental Practitioners' Act of 18 December 1963.

The Main Functions of the Council are specified in section 1(2) of the Act as Follows:

a. Determining the standard of Knowledge and skills to be attained by persons seeking to become members of the medical or dental profession and reviewing those standards from time to time as circumstances may permit;

b. Securing the establishment and maintenance of registers of persons entitled to practice as members of the medical or dental profession and the publication from time to time of lists of those person;

c. Reviewing and preparing from time to time a statement as to the code of conduct which the Council considers desirable for the practice of the professions in Nigeria;

The MDCN wishes to say for the umpteenth time that while universities, through their processes are at liberty to mount academic programmes including medical and dentistry at undergraduate level, the MDCN remains the sole authority, by virtue of the provisions of sections 1(2)(a);8(1) & (2);9(1)(2) & (3) and 19(1)(a)&(b) of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act cap M8 LFN 2004, empowered to deal with approval of courses, institutions and qualifications intended for persons seeking to be registered as members of the medical and dental professions.

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has discharged this function successfully using its instruments and capacities from inception.

For the avoidance of doubt, it is only the MDCN that is empowered by law to register any graduate of medicine or dentistry as the case maybe, of any institution in Nigeria elsewhere to practice Legally in Nigeria.

The Council assures itself that the prospective medical Practitioners or dental Surgeons have undergone courses of training in instituttions approved by it in accordance with the provisions of the Guidelines on Minimum Standards form Medical and Dental Education in Nigeria.

In exercise of this statutory function the Council has striven even in the midst of the decline in quality across board to ensure that no deviations from the minimum standards are allowed.

Council is unawre of any forum or fora at which any amendments have been done to the Guideliness on Minimum Standards for Medical Education in Nigeria. To wit, The Legal authority to make any such amendmentsis the Medical and Dental Coucil of Nigeria at its Plenary. Whenever such amendments are made the general public shall be informed.

The general public and all stakeholders including training instituttions particularly, are invited to take good note.

Signed

Dr. A.A. Ibrahim Dsc, mni

Registrar

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