Recently only about 359 out of 853 foreign candidates who sat for the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN passed the compulsory Assessment examination. Registrar of the Council Dr. Tajudeen Sunusi in an interview with our Health Editor Joyce Remi- Babayeju gave reasons for the Mass failure and why the exams is compulsory to safeguard the health of Nigerians.
Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, MDCN, Dr.
Tajudeen Sanusi has said that the Council as a Regulatory body cannot jeopardize the health of Nigerians on the altar of substandard practice among candidates who cannot meet up with the standard medical practice that fits the health seeking behavior of Nigerians.
Sanusi who spoke in an interview with Daybreak said that contrary to the public perception that is being painted by candidates who failed the compulsory assessment examination for foreign medical students the mandate of the Council is to examine the competence of students trained in other jurisdiction.
Speaking with Daybreak Health editor, Sanusi said, ” The assessment exams is a global affair in the sense that a if a medical student qualifies from one jurisdiction and wants to practice in another jurisdiction, we must test your level of competence for the safety of the society you want to practice in. ”
He said, ” We are dealing with the health of people and something that is peculiar about health it is that once a patient is dead , that life is lost forever.”
” We must take necessary precautions to get ensure that whoever comes for care of their health is given attention by who is found competent to handle that person.”
He said that for this reason , if only two out of 800 candidates pass the assessment exam , what matters is that the Council as the Regulatory Body of Doctors must not go below expected standards of practice.
“We are never driven by the number of mass failure, no.”
Sunusi explained that contrary to rumours of protest by candidates who failed the recent assessment exams written in Sokoto, he said there was nothing of such but that the Council was invited by the joint Committed on Health of the National Assembly, comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives to explain the six months mandatory Attachment Programme for foreign trained Medical and Dental graduates.
According to him the invitation was on the heels of the mass failure of foreign trained doctors in the last five years.
He explained that the Council discovered that most of the candidates lack basic sciences which is a prereqsuisite to study medicine and dentistry, adding that even those with science background had weak passes.
The MDCN Registrar emphasized that those wishing to study medicine must have high grades like As, but that instead Nigerian students would rather go to foreign countries without making necessary inquiries.
He hampered, “We have the responsibility to safeguard the health of our people. This is a regulated profession and we have to safeguard the health of the public.”
In line with the mandate of the Council Dr. Tajudeen disclosed that a Professor’s name was stuck out of the professional register and also another professor was tried by the Council. He explained that all is geared towards ensuring that no life is lost through negligence of anyone registered as a medical and dental practitioner by the professional Council.
Owing to the mass failure and to salvage the trend he explained that the Council has setup a Committee outside members of the Council who are drawn from some medical schools across the country in the six geo- political zones who came up with the recommendation that candidates should be exposed to six months mandatory attachment programme before they can be eligible to sit for the MDCN pre- registration examination.
He said that the objective of the six months attachment programme is to assess their competence to handle cases that are prevalent in our jurisdiction, It is of note that MDCN is the only Regulatory body that can put those things in place, he emphasized,
He stressed that MDCN is the only Regulatory Body that is trying it’s members in public , the public is not being fair to us , “they will continue to make noise because they want to shortcuts to become doctors in this county, but we will not allow it.”
He blamed parents and even state governments who send their children overseas to study medicine without making proper findings to guide them. But said after they must have spent so much money they will begin to complain when their children fail Council exams.
Referring to the mandatory six months attachment programme for foreign trained doctors in designated health institutions, he said that the Council has not asked students to pay those institutions neither is it involved in the monetary aspect.
Ours is to ensure that they have proper orientation, adequate
knowledge and competence to address the health issues in this country.
On quackery in the country, the MDCN Registrar said quacks are often arrested and handed over to the law enforcement agency and tried in the law courts. But lamented that the Police do not even contact the Council before the criminals are released. And to to that is the last we often hear about the case, he said.
