Posted by Nine out of 10 medical and dental consultants in Nigeria with less than five years of experience plan to leave the country in search of “greener pastures,” according to the Medical and Dental Consultants' Association of Nigeria.
According to a statement made by the association's president, Dr. Victor Makanjuola, a survey carried out in March 2022 by the medical association's Medical Education Committee revealed that more than 500 medical and dental consultants had left Nigeria for developed countries over the previous two years.
It stated: “The MDCAN has conducted a survey among its chapters in March 2022 and found that over 500 medical and dental consultants had left Nigeria for more developed countries over the preceding two years. The MDCAN is disturbed by the impact of this ugly trend on the growth and development of our country's health sector.
“According to additional data analysis conducted by the association's Medical Education Committee, nine out of ten medical and dental consultants with less than five years of work experience intended to leave the nation.
Furthermore, the Nigerian Medical Association recently reported that only 24,000 doctors are currently registered to practice in Nigeria, which results in a doctor-to-person ratio of over 8,000 Nigerians as opposed to the World Health Organization's recommended doctor-to-person ratio of one to every 600 individuals.
It is crucial to remember that the typical medical and dental consultant doubles as a teacher for medical students and doctors undergoing specialist (residency) training in addition to being a clinician. Therefore, it should go without saying that losing this type of highly skilled workforce to other nations will not only have an immediate detrimental impact on the delivery of clinical services but will also have a disastrous long-term impact on the training of future doctors in Nigeria.
It was also reported that the nation produces about 12,000 doctors annually to meet the necessary number of medical professionals needed in the nation.
“Anecdotal projections indicate that the 3,000 fresh medical and dental doctors, on average, produced by our local medical schools in Nigeria and another 1,000 produced by foreign medical schools fall far short of the number of such healthcare personnel required to meet the country's yearly medical manpower supply needs, estimated to fall between 10,000 and 12,000 (about three times the current rate),” the statement continued.