Chioma Chimah Nwabuko

Open letter to the man in charge at NUC .

Dear sir,

It has come to our notice that you intend to reform the
current medical training duration in Nigeria, making it at
least 11yrs to complete the first stage of medical training. A
good number of my colleagues have complained bitterly
about this development highlighting the sentiments we all
share.

I simply want to point out rather objectively why such a new
law would not only be unfair but highly detrimental to the
Nigerian health sector.

1. Every year... My school churns out an average of 60
graduate doctors ready for their internship. I cannot claim
to know how many students other schools graduate, but
using my school as an average and postulating that every
state in Nigeria has a medical school, I would infer that we
churn out at least 2220 fresh doctors every year. This
should be a source of joy to the nation in view of the sheer
manpower expected at NYSC. However some states get
roughly 20doctors per batch or less.. Funny enough a good
number of doctors are already above 30 at graduation(this
is in a 6yrs duration system), I cringe to think of how old
our doctors would be if this new system is adopted.

2. In this age of globalization... Scholarships abound and a
good number of Nigerians can afford to study in foreign
countries ( Ukraine, Hungary etc), this new system will
simply put our undergraduates at a very serious
disadvantage when compared with their foreign trained
counterparts. I need not emphasize that this will worsen the brain drain of our darling country.

3. Innovation actually comes easier with youth. A system
that churns our graduates who are in their middle thirties
will only breed a generation of doctors whose only interest
would be attempting to meet up with their secondary school mates.

4. I would like to point out that the vigorous training meted
out on medical students 'retards them socially', we are
unfortunately not in western countries where students have
jobs, earn money.... Here most of our students(myself
included) under the umbrella of school depend solely on
parental allowances.. Have little value for money and think
budgeting is a French word for our parents alone to
understand. Imagine a crop of medical students in their 30s
with such attitude... And a few years away from mid-life
crises.

Sir/MA I understand that your policies have the well being of every nigerian patient at heart, I however implore you to
remember that in the hospital... Physicians are simply
patients that have not been diagnosed, our health and
wellness matter too.

I apologize if this post is too long.

cc: lalasticlala, mynd44, Seun