I just stumbled on this thread and i found it very useful. @phantom, pls let's resuscitate this thread.

Hello everyone,pls i want to ask that how possible is it to work in the corporate world such as telecoms, banks, oil & gas, consulting firms etc with the MbChB or MBBS degree, (i mean not necessarily doing medical jobs). I learnt bankphb boss saying a few members of his staff are medical doctors having a career change,doing banking jobs. If it is possible,how do one go abt it with MbChB degree??, by writin exams,gettin certifications, or wat?

i read an advert in punch today of uni of maiduguri looking to employ MBBS holders (doctors) for N897,000-N100000 pa i.e abt N83,000 per month and the only incentive is a so-called 'passage' (watever that means) for you & ur dependents of not up to 18yrs of age. Same for a professor of medicine (PhD, highest level of medical career) with a salary of 2.7m-3.4m pa i.e N283,000 per month. This are full time positions for christsake!!!

wat amazes me is when doctors say there is better pay structure in the northern Nigeria cos of the dire need for doctors (which was really evident frm the 2-full page advert in the PUNCH newspaper mainly for search to employ medical professionals), but N280,000 per month for PhD holders and N83,000 per month for MBBS in full-time positions (Fed scale level salary) is very appalling and so PALTRY. With such salary, HUMANITARIAN.,my ASS!!!

@zerocool,
Are those figures supposed to be with or without oncalls? They're still appalling, any which way!

@beneli; It shld be without oncalls, but nevertheless even without,it's still 'very' appalling.
pls,can u or anyone in here say something about what i asked in my first post above.

@Zerocool,
What you asked in your 'first post above' may be better answered by somebody who already works in the 'Corporate World'. So you may get a better response if you post that question again on the bankers, and other relevant, forums. It may also be relevant to find somebody who knows somebody working in the career pathway you're interested in, and see what advise they'd give to you.

It shouldn't be a problem to switch careers, though. People who studied religious studies and that sort of thing have been able to enter the corporate world, so i see no reason why somebody with a bankground in medicine would fare any worse.

hi please i will like to pursue my career in canada please is there any exam like plab or usmle that i need to do before starting my residency there? and also apart from gre do i need to do toefl before i can gain admission to study MPh in harvard university. anyone in the house??

@Moji8888

To practice in Canada you will need to pass their medical licensing exams, equivalent to the PLAB and USMLE. I have been told that the exam is slightly easier than the USMLE, however the problem is what will happen after you've passed the exams! It's a lot more difficult to enter the system than, say the US. Even if you've passed the exams.

Here is a link to all the information you need to work in Canada as a foriegn trained Doctor, with the relevant contacts http://www.careertips.com/Canada_f_univ_med_foreigngrads.htm

With regards to doing the MpH in Harvard, you may need to check on their website yourself. Good luck!

Hi everyone,i sat 4 d GRE a few months back cos i want 2 go 4 an MPH course in d U.S and i scored 1520 (760 in each part).i would love 2 b given links 2 authentic scholarship programs open 2 international students, thanx y'all

afrodoc:

Hi everyone,i sat 4 d GRE a few months back cos i want 2 go 4 an MPH course in d U.S and i scored 1520 (760 in each part).i would love 2 b given links 2 authentic scholarship programs open 2 international students, thanx y'all

Sorry am not a medical student.i just want to contribute as per schooling in yankee.Why not go to petersons.com,mail search for schools,mail them n explain all u hv on ground to back ur application.Surely if u pursue the admission,u will get the visa

@nethacker thanx 4 ur txt,but i was askin 4 info germane 2 scholarships NOT visa. I.e scholarship foundations and their websites and addresses.thanx again

afrodoc:

@nethacker thanx 4 your txt,but i was askin 4 info germane 2 scholarships NOT visa. I.e scholarship foundations and their websites and addresses.thanx again

Scholarships are available for students worldwide through the school.So contact d sch and explain to them if u r eligible for scholarship. For u 2 sit and expect scholarship its almost impossible to get.

@afrodoc;  You can check out http://joeleonhart..com , Goodluck!


@beneli; Thanks for your reply to my post. I think one of the fast-track method to enter the corporate world after med school,is to do an MBA. I'm sure of a woman who holds both the MBBS & MBA and is a top executive at UBA.

@Zerocool,
Out of interest, what do people working in banks earn in Nigeria?

@beneli; entry level salary is about N150k - N170k per month. But with an MBA from a top notch grad school, you should earn about N250k pm + juicy allowances. Why did you ask?

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zerocool:

@beneli; entry level salary is about N150k - N170k per month. But with an MBA from a top notch grad school, you should earn about N250k pm + juicy allowances. Why did you ask?

I asked purely out of interest. For comparisons sake really.

I know that here in the UK, only bankers working in the so called 'square mile' (i.e. the city centre), who get immoral end of year bonuses sometimes running into 6 or 7 figures, earn more than Doctors. Otherwise the corporate world is not all that.

I suppose that the 'N250k pm + juicy allowances' would be considered attractive in Naija, if that's what you'd earn after bagging an MBA. So it may be a reasonable option after all for someone whose passion for the profession has gradually dwindled.


Good luck though, in whatever you finally decide to do.

@beneli; A medical career can really have good rewards depending on so many factors. But it won't be a bad idea to have an MBA with the medical degree, It can be used to get an HMO manager position.

Our hope rests solely on God. If you can,head out of the country quick!.

Good morning. Just joining this thread. I am one of those doctors that never tried to leave the country and now even if i wanted to I think I am too old. One issue I have with medicine and Doctors in Nigeria is our near total reliance in other people (government) for everything. A few years ago it dawned on me that the most progressive specialties in Nigeria have a strong private practice culture.The Ophthalmologist and Urologist are examples. In private practice they are doing laser eye surgeries here in Nigeria meanwhile some government hospitals are still doing cataract extraction without IOL's. Private urologists are doing Trans Urethral Prostatic Resections and getting paid well for it while teaching hospitals are still doing open prostatectomies. Private radiology centres have CT machines and MRI's and are able to maintain them even when teaching hospitals get them they breakdown and become none functional. Note that none of the industries we keep comparing our salaries to are government owned (oil companies and banks) if government were to run them (like most Tertiary hospitals) they would be worse off than we are.
Till we Doctors wake up and really realize that we are in the BUSINESS of saving lives and take our destiny into our own hands , I think we will continue crying and nobody will ever tell us sorry.
That's my take I may be wrong, but till proven otherwise that's what i believe.

THK

allycat,
Whilst i agree with you that we cannot compare government organisations with the private sector,its also important to take cognisance of the peculiarities of our noble profession. The government has a great role to play in the health care of its citizens because not every one would be able to afford proper medical care if left to.Theres the need for proper subsidisation of health care by the government. a large chunk of the budget should be allocated to health care. Sincerely we cant afford to make BUSINESS out of health care especially in nigeria.the result would be that proper health care would only be for the rich while the poor be left at the mercy of a conscienceless government.
This is my take.Anyone else has a say?

@drI; You're right. If medicine is to be run as a BUSINESS in Nigeria,it will be very expensive and out of reach even for an average nigerian. The healthcare sector of every country is run by the government. So,meaning most doctors will have to work for the government. (I'm yet to hear of any country privatising its healthcare sector).

In most countries of the world where there are great advances in medicine,the system is driven by private enterprise. Hospitals in America such as John hopkins, Mayo's group and Emory University School of Medicine are not funded by the American Government but by trust funds and foundations. Great Ormond street hospital in the UK is also funded not by the Government but by a Foundation trust. In India where we are all running to for treatment now, the hospitals doing all the medical miracle's are private enterprises. The same applies for most other countries except communist countries like Cuba where the government controls everything. And i tell you the doctors there are trying to get out too.
Where government is directly involved they provide basic health care and emergency services which are usually not profitable. The doctors in these hospitals are not paid anything special when compared to other sectors of their economies.
The business of government is to provide the enabling environment and regulatory frame work such as health insurance so that everybody can afford basic health care. Don't forget research, for medicine to progress there must be research going on and that is never funded by government. What we Doctors in Nigeria need to do is to stop waiting for government to do for us and start doing for ourselves.
Nigeria is in such a mess now that if we are waiting for government to start paying us jumbo salaries and super funding the hospitals we will wait for a very loong time. First let them give us electricity, running water, good roads, reduce the cost of bringing in equipment and stop taxing hospitals like hotels. The cost of running private hospitals will come down. Hopefully if that happens we will be generous enough to pass that reprieve to our patients.

@Allycat; Check this, http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2009pres/03/20090320a.html , The U.S dept of health &human services under the american recovery & reinvestment act made an additional $268million available in march 09 under obama to cut cost of medical treatment/services. The act increase d amt of allotment available frm approx $11.06bn to $11.33bn in 2009. This is just 1 of gov aids towards healthcare in the U.S. Others r medicaid & medicare.

looks like the president has finally signed the MSS, looks like we have better days ahead, suffered for too long.congrats to my colleagues if this is really true,

Thanks Zerocool for your link. But once more it butresses my point. The American government is making fund available to PAY[/color] hospitals to take care of the poor and vulnerable and uninsured. Medicaid and medicare are just government funded HMO's which [color=#990000]PAY for the treatment of those that cannot afford to pay insurance themselves. At no time does the american government concern itself with running hospitals and paying salaries.
Even if they raise H/Os salaries to 250k the euphoria will be short lived. This is because we will come back to work in the same lousy conditions as we do now. Hot crowded hospitals, no electricity, out dated equipment, no running water and now the public will believe we should perform miracles since we are now well paid.

@Phantom,
What's this MSS thing that the government has finally signed all about?

@ben, its a medical salary scale, where we dont have to fight for every pay rise.it comes automatically.it was started in '91 at the height of the brain drain and abrogated in '98.if we had followed through,a consultant should be at the same level as a chief judge earning about 1.5 mill a month,

phantom:

looks like the president has finally signed the MSS, looks like we have better days ahead, suffered for too long.congrats to my colleagues if this is really true,

is it really true that FG has finally signed the mss scale.? if so when was it signed and when is it going to take effect.pls anybody with good info should reply.thanks

allycat:

Thanks Zerocool for your link. But once more it butresses my point. The American government is making fund available to PAY[/color] hospitals to take care of the poor and vulnerable and uninsured. Medicaid and medicare are just government funded HMO's which [color=#990000]PAY for the treatment of those that cannot afford to pay insurance themselves. At no time does the american government concern itself with running hospitals and paying salaries.
Even if they raise H/Os salaries to 250k the euphoria will be short lived. This is because we will come back to work in the same lousy conditions as we do now. Hot crowded hospitals, no electricity, out dated equipment, no running water and now the public will believe we should perform miracles since we are now well paid.

I hope you guys pardon me for posting here, cos I'm no doctor!

@allycat, it's difficult to discount the role of government for now, because there are no private medical colleges or specialist hospitals on a large scale. For a nation to develop, government has to provide the platforms in terms of enabling legislation, as well as basic infrastructure, not the situation we have now, where they have a stranglehold on everything and refuse to do anything, or even commit to the improvement of existing facilities.
I find it truly pathetic in the case of healthcare, because for now there are no hospitals in existence that can train doctors on a large scale, keeping in mind we are over 150 million people. Only the teaching hospitals are there, and you know better than I do the state of those.

Cheers.