The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria’s evaluation examination failed 529 foreign-trained medical and dental graduates. This is according to the MDCN examination report obtained on Sunday.
The two-day assessment examination was held at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Wednesday, July 12, and Thursday, July 13, 2023. According to the MDCN, 704 medical and 30 dentistry foreign-trained graduates took the assessment exam.
According to the council, just 189 medical graduates and 16 dental graduates passed the exams. It was also disclosed that 515 medical students and 14 dental students failed the exam.
According to reports, the MDCN evaluation examination is required for all foreign-trained doctors who wish to practice in Nigeria.
The evaluation exam assesses candidates’ competence to use basic medical sciences and clinical abilities in a healthcare setting.
Commenting on the result, the MDCN Registrar, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, said, “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.”
According to him, the evaluation examination is a globally essential activity.
“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,” he said.
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