MEDICAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

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Like most things in Nigeria, medical education is plagued by a lot of factors that affect its excellence. A lot of mitigating circumstances affect this very important subset of the entire Nigeria educational structure which by extension affects the future of healthcare delivery in the nation.

Issues ranging from laboratory engagements to research expertise are grossly neglected during the "6+x" years most medical students spend acquiring a medical degree.

To highlight a few:

  • Structure of medical exams,

  • Topic presentations,

  • External postings,

  • COBES(Community-based education and service)

  • Didactic lectures,

  • Laboratory skills,

  • Final year projects,

  • And many more.



For specificity, this writ will focus on the underperformance and underutilisation of final-year research work in the medical community. In most universities, final-year medical students are expected to produce research work which is almost always in the public health course. I had an amazing experience during my final year project in the department and gained new experience but if I had all the options, I would have chosen a research work in biochemistry or anatomic pathology.

The research skills medical students are exposed to can be really better. I remember the provost of my college during my clinical years curating a program where we had critical thinking sessions and attempts to have a full appraisal of research publications. Critical thinking could never be perfect (because most of those scientific methods were foreign to us) but it began to expose us to right and wrong methods for research while also improving our scientific writing skills. I am not going to talk about what is left of that program right now.

Medical students should have the opportunity to decide what course they want to select for their research work from the basic medical sciences to the clinical sciences. Don't limit medical students to community health projects only. COBES is enough for most. Medical students should be able to work with lecturers from other departments in the college, or even beyond, to carry out their research projects. There are many different aspects of medical education in Nigeria that needs revamping. I, in the nearest future, will seek to be leading the charge in this reformation.

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