The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria on Tuesday swore-in 493 foreign-trained medical doctors and six dental surgeons.
Dr. Abdulmumini Ibrahim, the Registrar of the council, at the induction ceremony in Abuja, said the 493 doctors were those who were successful out of the 563 medical candidates that registered for the October assessment examination conducted by the council.
Ibrahim also said all six dental candidates scaled through the exams.
While congratulating the successful candidates, Ibrahim urged them to uphold the Hippocratic Oath and apply themselves to continuous learning as a means of remaining relevant in the profession.
He also urged them to undermine money and ensure that patient’s health was paramount in all their endeavours as stipulated in the oath.
He explained that the assessment exercise was meant to enable the council assess holders of foreign medical and dental qualifications recognised by government of the countries where such qualifications were obtained.
He noted that it was also to ensure that their standard of training measured up to that of medical doctors and dental surgeons trained in Nigeria.
According to him, passing the exams is a prerequisite for the provisional registration of the graduates by the MDCN to enable them to proceed for housemanship.
Ibrahim said: “The assessment examination is also conducted for the graduates of Nigerian Universities whose accreditation for training is either suspended or withdrawn before graduation of the students.
“Over the years, there has been an increase in the number of medical and dental graduates applying to sit for the council assessment examination.
“The increase in number of Nigerians who study medicine and dentistry abroad is probably occasioned by insufficient space in the Nigerian universities to accommodate the number of qualified candidates seeking admission.
“Another factor is the failure of some medical and dental schools to meet the minimum requirements of the council, resulting in withdrawal of accreditation.”
The registrar restated the commitment of the council to sanitise medical training in the country.
Okpalele also urged parents and guardians of prospective candidates seeking admission to medical and dental schools to verify the status of such institutions before applying.
According to him, failure to do so would amount to efforts in futility.
