Victor EzejaNot fewer than 529 foreign-trained medical graduates have failed the assessment examination conducted by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
This was revealed in the examination report released by the MDCN recently.
The Council conducted a two-day assessment examination for foreign-trained medical and dental graduates on Wednesday, 12 July, and Thursday, 13 July 2023 at the University College Hospital, Ibadan in Oyo State.
According to the report, 704 medical and 30 dental foreign-trained graduates participated in the assessment examination.
However, only 189 medical graduates and 16 dental graduates passed the examination, the report revealed.
The report also shows that 515 medical and 14 dental graduates failed the examination.
MDCN is a professional regulatory body that regulates the practice of Medicine, Dentistry, and Alternative Medicine in Nigeria to ensure the best healthcare delivery for Nigerians.
The MDCN examination is mandatory for all medical graduates, who trained abroad to determine their ability to practice.
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The MDCN Registrar, Tajudeen Sanusi, who spoke on the outcome of the assessment exercise said the overall performance is poor.
According to him, it is a global practice for medical graduates who trained in another country to be subjected to assessment tests to determine their level of competence before they can be entrusted with the healthcare of people.
“The pass is at 27.4 per cent, which is poor. However, the assessment exam is necessary because we cannot put the health of Nigerians in jeopardy; it is better we have a few doctors than have doctors that will put the health of Nigerians in danger. All hands must be on deck to put this country in the right place.”
“It’s a global practice that if you train in a particular jurisdiction and, you want to go to another jurisdiction, you subject yourself to an assessment exam. Even if you are a professor of medicine here and you’ve never practised in the United Kingdom or the United States, when you go there, you subject yourself to their assessment exam. So, it’s a global practice,” Sanusi said.
Prime Business Africa reports that this is not the first time foreign-trained doctors failed the MDCN examination. It has been a recurring incident for some years now.
In November 2022, 477 FTDs out of 916 that participated in the test failed, while 439 representing 48% passed the. Also, a total of 496 FTDs failed the assessment test conducted at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto, in November 2021. 357 passed out of a total of 826 medical and dental candidates who appeared for the examination.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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