Gerrard59, thank you for this piece! I see the efforts you put in, and I must say, this is EXCELLENT.

Glad the bright stars are doing well too!

This should encourage others, especially those that continue to scream school-na-scam everywhere....or those that seem to have a thing against academic excellence.

princekwi:


Sorry brother, It's igbo not Nigeria ok, when an igbo commits crime, you all we paint the whole tribe as criminals, like wise when an igbo excels, you all should leave us to celebrate, don't attach Nigeria to it, it's igbo, Igbo Amaka, go to hell

OK, have a nice day, sir.

andy244:


And what Tinubu did is not embarrassingly BAD. Someone who forged his State of Origin, his primary school and secondary school. His university and age everything forged. Be deceiving yourself

I don't get how this adds to the discussion.

This thread is not about Tinubu. Create a thread for that and we'd discuss.

No need for the emotions.

ORIAYO70:



U no suppose to dey respond to that lowlife... They celebrate nonsense base on ethnicity..
They r set of senseless people.

Sadly, there is no need attacking the gentleman or his tribe. Your post is as wrong as his.

I continue to wonder why we can't hold civil conversations here and respect each other. This is not how we interact in real life. I have friends and colleagues across the major tribes in Nigeria. I have never seen them disrespect each other as I do here daily. Goes to show that what we witness here may just be people catching cruise or something.....only that they don't know this play can harm the country..

Absuchat:

Still doesn't change anything. When they carried Mmesoma's case for head like their smelly dreadlocks, forgetting that Tinubu did worse, where were you?

What that girl did is embarrassingly bad, and should be condemned entirely.

That, too, wasn't a tribal issue, it was a case of a teenager that did something bad...there was a need for an all-round condemnation.

If anyone made it a tribal issue, like, attacking the entire Igbo ethnic group, that person is as wrong as you are now.

So, do two wrongs make a right?

Psiyohos:
Nigerians now know that they studied Medicine for free. Now they know that they want to give back to their country.

Seun even had the effontery to back the rubbish with one useless message.

They are mad!!!

We know that UK doctors are fleeing the UK for Canada as the effect of Brexit is beginning to show even Nigel Farrage have relocated from the UK.
I pity our medical students thinking there is still road there. Doctors will saturate ehn!
They will be moving from house to house with bikes looking for patients to treat.

With the new lean towards food and alternate medicine, it is going to be very gloomy.

That's the problem of overproduction it's leads to devaluation.
Go and buy land, open your own hospital or clinic before HEFAMA starts doing rubbish. Attach a farm beside it because Hunger dey come oo.

Give back ke, Nigerians and their scams, they are coming home to take your jobs



Ehen On another note, Hundenyin is right, Stop using planes for now, Nigeria is due for another blood sacrifice and plane crash is what they will use. Be careful!!!

There is still road to the NHS, boss.

And by the way, to some Nigerian doctors, the UK is only a means to an end. Some transit to other destinations after practicing there for like two years.

Absuchat:
Igbos keep causing 90% of high BP case in south west since 1914

This is a beautiful thread where we all should celebrate this doc. There's absolutely no need to turn this into a tribal war.

The Yorubas, Hausas, and other tribes have also had students who turn out to be the best in medicine or other fields of endeavours.

This lady has done well, and I celebrate her dedication and hard work. Nigeria does not give grades in medschool, but this does not take away the fact that Nigerian-trained medstudents are hard working too....

May God bless all medics!

Bad.

As bad as this is, some posters are already turning it into another APC-banter stuff. OK na, let's all celebrate as throughout the time the PDP was in power, no armed robber killed any policeman. Or when the other candidate was a governor, no armed robber killed anybody in his state. In fact, everything that is bad started when APC came into power.

Oh...let me just quickly add: as we continue to fight ourselves over politics, those that perpetrate evil will continue to have a field day devouring us. Hopefully, someone close to us doesn't become the next victim....because that will only be another point for the opposition to use to attack the government.

IamANigerianMan:
Continue to celebrate nonsense, with this we bought our website template from WordPress, Joomla etc..

How is graduating with a perfect CGPA "nonsense"?

How do we know he's the one in the picture? Doesn't look like him to me.

AMI3:


Their system is could be far better than ours

This is not the focus of the discussion.

Fine, their system is better. BUT, are there criminals there?

I was only showing you that even in near-perfect societies, criminals still exist. So, criminality is not a sole production of the government.

The Nigerian situation we all are experiencing today is due to the failures of the government and the decayed morality of the populace.

Look at people in your circle. How many are honest? How many will see "free money" and look the other way? How many will not cheat in an exam? How many will not dispose their wastes indiscriminately? How many will use the paedestrian bridge while crossing the road instead of crossing like that? How many will clean their drainages regularly to prevent flooding?

See, let's stop blaming the government. We are not innocent either. We all must decide to be better versions of ourselves.

Yeah.

Skyview01:


You tell me!

There are.

AMI3:



People blame government because government are like parents to their citizens.

If a parents failed to raise responsible children or play their role by giving the children proper up bringing whom do u think will take the blame.

Let us look at the government.

If the government are corrupt and they keep stilling our wealth without providing good enabling environment for her citizens what do u think will happen?

If a politician steals Money and he can not be punished, don't u think the citizens are looking up to them?

Discipline should start from our leaders, provide jobs for her citizens and make the environment conducive for people to show case their talent u will see that crime will be reduced.

If leaders can be elated through forgery or questionable character what do u the world will say about such country and do u think u will discipline ur citizen if the commit such offense.

Are the leaders not the one using these cult boys during elation? Tell me why will many will not like to join if the have the backings of a strong politician.

I am not justifying their wrong doings but we should also hold our leaders accountable for so wrongs in this country

Kindly look up the least corrupt country in the world, look up the country with the least corrupt politicians....see if there are no criminals in that country...

Goodcitizen1:


Yes! Because drug pushers realized that there is no consequence in the 4th world country called Nigeria. If this guy can be president as a drug dealer then those other drug pusher have hopes as well .

Since "there are no consequences" as you have said, have you also decided to push drugs? Are all Nigerians pushing drugs now?

If your answers are no, then you and I agree that we can't throw all the blames to the government.

FakaF:
YES

It is the governmentthat has failed to create an enabling economic environment for the citizens to thrive.

No jobs, no healthcare, no education and other social amenities, even after education, no jobs.

So the citizens get involved in vices, mostly to survive.

We MUST BLAME THE GOVERNMENT.

You as a citizen, are you involved in any of the vices? I'm also a Nigerian, I'm equally exposed to the issues you outlined, but I'm not a criminal.

There's no country that has got it all. Again, there is no country that have no criminals.

People choose to live the kind of lives they live.

Skyview01:


It is the government that has created a lawless society in Nigeria and most of the citizens then travel abroad to continue lives of crime.

Government and laemakers should create instituitions and structures that will truly deter and prosecute crime.

In China, politicians are executed for corruption.

There are no criminals in China?

tensazangetsu20:
Honestly Nigerians are very bad people. Sometimes we need to look inward. It's not that they hate us everytime but why always Nigerians. In west Africa, only the Nigerian passport can't travel to Singapore visa free.

We are so quick to throw blames to the government and to other tribes. No one wants to look at this objectively.

Is it the government that's involved in cult activities in SA?

Is it the government that scams thousands of people abroad.....? And some of these scams lead to self harm and death!

Is it the government that smuggles drugs to other countries?

Is it the government that violates simple visa conditions?

In fact, who constitutes this government? Americans? Jamaicans? Oh! Our government is also made up of Nigerians!

Who voted/rigged them in? Nigerians!

Who defends them when they misbehave? Nigerians!

We are just funny. Stupidly funny, in fact.

Mrfixiit:
Having a criminal drug lord as a president comes with many consequences. This is one of them

Does having citizens that sell drugs and get involved in cultist activities in foreign countries also come with many consequences?

This is very shameful. What a disgrace to his family. I pray these victims recover from the trauma this man has caused them.

Please, let's just careful of the things we do. We should always factor the impacts of our actions. Sharing nudes is a very, very risky thing to do.

Also, I wonder why adults just can't be adults. These days, it's difficult to find someone you can trust. You never can tell what your so called friend will do once you guys breakup.

This should be a lesson to us all. Whatever you do with someone in trust, ensure you don't break that trust no matter the current condition of your relationship with that person. It's childish and silly to begin to broadcast your activities with your spouse or friend because you guys are no longer together. Such a shame!

I've also seen posts where men demand for the phones, laptops, and other gifts they got their girlfriends because they are no longer dating. Another huge shame!

Why is it difficult for us to respect each other? Why can't we just move on after a failed relationship? Must we destroy everything we built with the person because we are no longer dating? This goes to show that the love we profess never existed ab initio.

Most importantly, dear ladies, PLEASE, BE CAREFUL in all your dealings with the opposite sex. When the Bible advised against illicit sex, God knew why....and this is one of the reasons.

Dear men, grow up! A good number of us are children. I read your comments on this forum, some of you condemning this act are capable of doing it...just that you've not had the opportunity, or you've not been reported yet.

Sad.

I can never understand the logic behind doing things like this. This is comparable to disclosing secrets once shared with someone just because of a misunderstanding.

This man should face the heat, he deserves it all.

Horrible!

Lordsagna:

Good evening Sir,
Do you think a medical student can do a part-time job to sponsor himself through medical school?

Hello, good morning. Yes, it's possible, very possible, in fact.

VeryWickedPrick:


See dis wan.
Common moderator you nor go see.

I don't even get this post, I tell you say I want be moderator?

Wahala. Just try to dey dey thankful for the free things you dey enjoy for life sha...

Simple.

VeryWickedPrick:
Where is the "clash"?
I didn't see Musk responding to the gay bigot.

Seun Osewa is just a desperate Abeokuta peasant trying to get Musk's attention to market his dead website.


Belike this administration nor favour Seun and him household.

Dead, but you're here reading and making posts?

Nairaland may need improvement (every project does, actually), but it's certainly not dead. Its creator should be THANKED for making such a platform where Nigerians (and other nationals too) can interact effortlessly.

Lots of content are created here, mostly for free. People find their talents here, all for free. We get real-time information here, all for free.

Why shouldn't we be thankful?

Mister123:
Hello guys. Greetings to you. Please don't mind muy grammar, I'm not here for English classes lol.
My first child's almost 3years, trust me that girl can be playing and roaming about 24/7. As long as she's not asleep, her mum and I are always talking, don't do this, don't do that. Sometimes I lose my cool you know. I'm planing to enroll her into a conventional school by September because she seems really smart. My question here is, how do I handle her, she can't just stay in one place and our apartment is not really safe for her to be playing outside.
Parents and expert in the house please assist a brother with an idea of what to do.
Thank you

Hi.

If you feel concerned about your child, I'd advise you take her to see a paediatrician. The specialist will evaluate her and determine if things are normal, or not.

Good luck.

Hello chiefs,

Greetings. I see the last post here was in January. I'm a fresh-out-of-the-oven doctor, yet to go through internship (should start next onth), and I'm eager to learn from your experiences. I'm particularly interested in your migration discussions.

My questions, please:

1. What possible changes will moving from PLAB to UKMLE bring?

2. I need more information, please, as regards Ireland. Please, if you are a Nigerian-trained doc currently practicing in Ireland, could you kindly indicate? I promise not to bug you too much.

Thank you.

Gadafii:
but the govt than wasted billions of naira or rather stole the funds for power generation and supply are not the problem

I don’t appreciate what op wants to do, but how about we start demanding for accountability from our leaders

You know how much has been spent since 1999 till date on power supply and there is hardly power to supply?

Before you demand for accountability, you must first demand the same from yourself. A common thief cannot ask the government to stop stealing.

He who pursues justice must first ensure his hands are clean.

You, your neighbour, and many others like you are the exact reasons we are here as a country.

You want to use power without paying for it, how exactly do you expect the government to fund the 2-4-7 power supply we've all been crying for?

Hopefully, security agencies will locate everyone stealing from Nigeria.

spiritualmubi:
Congratulations Dr. Tonye, wish you a fruitful practice.

Thank you very much.

Wish you the very best too.

Ruggedfighter:
My chief . I remember how I used to get stuck reading your interesting diary and I how I always kept waiting for you to update it, because it was interesting and educative to read. Your wonderful pieces would be a very great source of encouragement to a lot of aspiring students, just the way it was for me. I'm happy for you, sir. Congratulations, wishing you a fruitful career.

Thank you very much, doc.

Wishing you the very best too.

Hello!

In this post, I'd be sharing ten (10) lessons I picked from medical school. I do hope that this post benefits someone somewhere.

1. Our Abilities are Stretchable.
Many years ago as a student of Human Physiology, I used to wonder how medical students can read large volumes of information and recall the same in their exams. In Physiology, we ran a semester system where we studied selected body systems, and our exams are limited to that system. For example, in Year 2 first semester, we studied Blood and Body Fluid Physiology; our exam was limited to this system, and after the semester, we'd not be required to recall the information about this system in any other exam. In the worst-case scenario, we may need to APPLY the lessons learnt in the previous semesters.

The situation in medical school is different. In the Year 3 professional examination, candidates are required to recall ALL they have been taught in their first two years in medschool. Candidates must remember all they have learnt in Human Anatomy (including genetics in some centres), Human Physiology, and Medical Biochemistry. In the Path-Pharm medical board examination, candidates must recall all they've learnt in Pathology (Medical Microbiology, Haematology, Histopathology, and Chemical Pathology) and Pharmacology. Actually, this is enormous, and I want to believe that some people may be wondering how this is possible, just like I had once wondered.

Well, I now know. The answer is that the human mind is stretchable. Once there is a need to do a particular thing, the mind contorts itself in its preparation to achieve the given goal. There is absolutely nothing special about this. It's an ability EVERY mind has, with a little perseverance and discipline here and there, anyone can achieve this. The reason it seemed impossible/difficult then was because I didn't need to recall everything in a given exam; if I had had such a need, I too would have weathered the storm, all things being equal.

2. Medical Students need a Good Support System

Well, every student needs a good support system. But in medschool, this is particularly important. Your support system may be your parents, siblings, friends, roommates, spouse, etc. In medschool, there are some very low moments. Examples include a poor exam outcome, having to repeat an entire year, cashlessness, etc. I remember when I had to resit Anatomy in my first professional medical board exams. It was a crazy moment as I had never expected this blow. I remember getting on a night bus the same day I saw the result. I went home to spend some time with my family. My wife was very instrumental in my healing process. My wife was (is) my support system, and she did a pretty great job. I got back to school, retook the exam, passed, and joined my colleagues in the hospital.

As you prepare to go into medschool, it will be wise to begin to organize/identify your support system. This is one reason you must scrutinize anyone that wants access to your life. Your circle must be made of reliable people you can turn to for advice, encouragement, etc.

3. Hard Work and Smart Work are both Necessary.
People tend to subscribe to philosophies that substitute hard work for smart work. This is fast becoming generally accepted, but I don't completely agree with this. In my opinion, both are necessary and important. There are times one needs to work hard, and there are other times one must work smart.

I employed these two concepts in medschool. I did hard work during the session. I ensured I read and had a good grasp of the things I should know. I like understanding concepts, not just holding on to outputs. Let me explain; instead of knowing that excessive thirst is a symptom of diabetes mellitus, I prefer knowing HOW diabetes mellitus can make patients excessively thirsty. These concepts and pathology mechanisms help me work things out if/when I forget the details. In exam periods (like the MB exams), I employ smart work. To me, this isn't the time for hard work. I study the patterns of questions, I look at common diseases in a given subspecialty, and I study the body languages of our lecturers. This worked for me most of the time, in times that it didn't work, I fall back to the mechanisms I had grasped and navigate my way through the exam.

For example, let us consider a candidate preparing to take an assessment on the gross anatomy of the upper extremities. Hard work for this candidate will be ensuring he/she reads everything about the upper limbs. This should be done long before the exams. As the exam approach, this candidate will be smart if he ensures he internalizes things like the brachial plexus, course, and distribution of major arteries and nerves (axillary artery, median nerve, etc). This candidate will also be smart if he goes through previous questions; not just memorizing them but understanding their patterns.

4. You can do Extra-Curricular Activities in Medschool and Still be Successful

I've met some medstudents that lived a triangular life. They go to class, then fellowships, and to night class. They hardly are involved in anything outside of academic work. This isn't bad, especially if this is what they want. But if you believe this is the only way to go through the training successfully, then you are grossly misinformed.

Life is beyond medicine, really. You can enjoy other activities in life and still be a very successful medical student. For example, you can be involved in politics, entertainment, freelancing, etc. I've been freelancing for over three years now. While preparing for my final MB exams, I got a series of jobs; I needed the cash so I took all the jobs that came my way. Sometimes, while my colleagues read through the night, I was writing papers for clients.

The only way to successfully achieve this is to ensure you work hard whenever you have the time. The harder you work, the more free time you create for yourself in the future. I was able to spare some nights for freelancing in the heat of my final professional exam (the most important of all exams written in medschool) because I had worked hard long before this time. I think this is straightforward and does not need further explanations.

5. Anything is Possible.

In life, anything is possible. I believe anyone can achieve any dream in the right circumstances. I don't think becoming a medical doctor is reserved for a particular group of people. In fact, in some Western societies, anyone can study medicine irrespective of their background.

Some dreams may take a while, but you can still achieve them. I'm a medical doctor today, this was a dream I first chased 17 years ago. But I did not fold my hands hoping to get into medschool all these years. In these 17 years, I got two degrees (a bachelor's and a master's degree), I served my fatherland (NYSC), I started a career (which I later dropped to return to school), I got married, and we have four wonderful children. I'm very grateful that I've been able to achieve this today. The wound has suddenly healed. The pains are gone. I now feel fulfilled. I now feel satisfied. I'm now ready for the next challenge life has got for me.

So, some of you may have tried several times to get into medschool. This is a common finding. While I urge you to continue trying, I'd advise you to ensure you get your lives going. Don't join the medicine-or-nothing gang, I don't think there's much sense in that. I know some people that spent years looking for medicine, they paused their lives in all these years. All they did was to write UTME, read for the next UTME, and the cycle repeats. Some of them fail out of medschool after getting in. Guess what? They fall to nothing. They fall back to stage 1. Time, effort, finances, and opportunities lost. Again, perhaps, you should realize that retaking an exam without assessing why you failed it in the first instance is analogous to repeating failure as you'd likely fail in your subsequent trials. Ensure you take out time to analyze why you failed an exam before retrying.

6. Be a Good Support System to Others.

I earlier mentioned that in medschool, you need the right support system. This is absolutely true. But, don't be greedy. Also, ensure you're a good support system to others. In life, we take to give (we don't necessarily give to take though). Life is a closed system where things go around. We all have materials another person needs to climb to his/her next level. If we refuse to share or reach out, we'd be hampering the progress of that person. Reaching out to others, and helping where and when needed WITHOUT expecting anything in return should be basic human thinking. In life, we take to give, we don't take to keep.

7. GO TO YOUR POSTINGS!
If you're a medical student reading this, please, as much as possible, ensure you are present in all the meetings you're expected to participate in. Attend classes, practical sessions, go to your clinics, ward rounds, theatres, emergency call duties, etc. Just show up.
Some of the questions in my Paediatrics exam were about cases we managed in the Emergency Paediatric Unit (EPU) of our facility. If I hadn't gone to call the times these cases were managed, I may not have answered those questions satisfactorily. You may not have the chance to read some of these things in the books. Seeing these cases being managed will usually stick to your memory, and you never can tell when you'd need this information.

Also, for those that understand what "ophthalmology" is in medschool, you'd agree with me that showing up is very important.

8. Malaria Prophylaxis

In our environment, taking malaria prophylaxis is part of prepping for your exams. Some of my colleagues came down with malaria while we prepared for our final MB exams, and this wasn't funny. Ensure you protect yourself from malaria, use insecticide-treated mosquito nets, clean your environment, don't unnecessarily expose yourselves, and take prophylaxis before any major exam.

9. Be in Good Standing with your Lecturers and be Humble, Respectful, and Teachable.

Do I need to emphasize this?

10. GOD!!!

This may be the last, but it's the most important. I'm a Christian, and I believe in the power of God Almighty. It is God that made it possible for me to come this far. It is God that will keep me. It is God that will ensure I go farther than this.

Throughout my training, my trust was in Jehovah, my Creator. I knew He didn't bring me this far to abandon me. I knew He would see me through, and He did. I still trust in Him, and with this trust, I know I'd make further progress in life.

Turn to God, guys, not because you want success, but because it is the right thing to do.

Conclusion

Going through medical school is a serious business. It's one of the most stressful endeavours in education. I once argued that it is more difficult to stay in than to get in. But guess what? IT IS POSSIBLE. You just need to properly plan your game before you come in. Many people think all they need to do is to prepare for WASSCE and UTME, write and smash these exams. Na, preparing for medschool is beyond this. You must make plans for finances, you must develop your strategy, and you must establish a support system.

I honestly hope this post will provide more insight into medical school in Nigeria.

Thank you.

Lagusta:


Congrats bro, I'm so happy and proud of you. 🙂

Thank you very much, sir.