The Vice-Chancellor of the newly, established University of Medical Sciences in Ondo, Ondo State, Prof. Friday Okonofua, discusses medical education in Nigeria with BUKOLA ADEBAYOHaven’t we had enough universities in this country?
By April 2015, there were 139 universities approved by the National Universities Commission. The Ondo State University of Medical Sciences is the 140th university approved by the NUC on April 22, 2015. Of these, 50 are federally-funded, 40 are funded by state governments, while the remaining 50 are privately-funded universities.
Of the 140 universities, only 31 universities, representing 22.1 per cent of the total, offer medical and health-related courses. Universities offering medical courses must certify the NUC accreditation requirements and those of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria as well as other professional regulatory bodies. The MDCN requirements are much more stringent. To date, only 27 of the 31 medical schools are fully registered by both the NUC and the MDCN, while four are only partially registered by MDCN.
Given the plethora of universities and number of health educational institutions in the country, is there really any need for a medical sciences university?
Whether we have the required number of universities to cater for our education needs or not is a question that needs to be really analysed and put in context. Beyond that, whether there is need for the Ondo State University of Medical Sciences, an institution that specialises in medical education, is one that I will readily answer. There is need for it and I will defend that.
I accepted to be the VC of this institution in March this year based on three considerations. The first is my deep knowledge of the advances that the state has made in the delivery of quality health care in recent times, and the need to assist it in consolidating and sustaining those achievements over time.
My second reflection on this assignment is the decline that has become evident in the quality of medical education in this country in recent times. As a medical educator with nearly 30 years of teaching and research experience, I have lately seen the systematic decline in the knowledge and skills of medical graduates, and the erosion of the ethical and professional principles that have always guided the practice of medicine. This has manifested not only in decline in the quality of service delivery, but also in the quality of research and knowledge development that emanates from our medical institutions. A consequence is that whereas Nigerian institutions were the preferred universities for students from all over Africa desiring medical education in the 1960s and 1970s, today, Nigerian students prefer to attend medical institutions in countries such as Ghana, South Africa and Ukraine.
This has resulted in considerable brain drain, which has adversely affected the health care delivery system and contributed to our inability to improve various health indicators in the country. My thinking, therefore, is that as VC I would have the opportunity to contribute to the establishment of a new medical educational institution that will correct many of the anomalies that presently bedevil medical training in Nigeria, allowing the country to return as a central hub of medical education and service delivery in Africa.
If Nigerians have been running to other countries for their medical education, what is the hope for the new university?
This question leads me to the third reason why I am excited about this appointment. It provides me an opportunity to transform my ideas into action by helping to create a modern university in Africa that can compete with those in more developed parts of the world. I have always felt that it is possible to do so if we attract the best members of staff and students to such a university, develop a multi-stakeholders funding base to sustain the financial needs of the university; manage the university in a transparent, effective and accountable manner, using internationally acceptable rules in university governance.
The Medical University of South Africa in Pretoria, and the Medical University of Science and Technology in Sudan, are presently the only two of its kind in Africa. In the USA, examples of medical universities include the Poznan University of Medical Sciences, New York; the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; and the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine in Los Angeles, California.
The exemplary curricula and programmes of these universities have set them apart as models in medical education and endeared this method of specialised education to health care providers and decision-makers around the world.
Our aim is to develop the university as a West African regional centre of excellence in training and research in various medical disciplines, and that would provide exemplary health delivery mechanisms that will stem the current tide of increasing brain drain and medical tourism that harm the economy of the country.
Post a Comment