The National Universities Commission has described
as erroneous and misleading the news making the
round that Nigerian medical students will now
spend 11 years to obtain their first degree.
The NUC’s Head, Information Department, Mrs.
Adebukola Olatunji, said in a statement on Monday
that medical students will only spend seven years in
school, rather than 11 years which was widely
reported in the news.
Olatunji said newsmen misrepresented the NUC’s
Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie, who was
quoted to have announced the 11-year training
period for medical students while giving the keynote
address at the matriculation and inauguration of the
University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, on March 12,
2016.
She said nowhere in the keynote address, entitled,
“Development of Medical Education in Nigeria:
Prospects and Challenges,” was 11 years mentioned
or implied.
According to Olatunji, what Okojie explained was
that the NUC’s basic minimum academic standard
for Medicine and Surgery had been reviewed such
that anyone wishing to study Medicine and Surgery
and Dentistry will first have to study any of the four-
year basic medical science courses, such as
Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and Physiology,
before proceeding to the clinical training that would
run for three years.
She said, “Although, the so-called ‘11-year Medical
Programme’ stories have been credited to the
Commission’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius
Okojie’s keynote address, titled, ‘Development of
Medical Education in Nigeria: Prospects and
Challenges’, which was delivered at the
Matriculation and Inauguration of the University of
Medical Sciences, Ondo, on Saturday, March 12,
2016, nowhere in that lecture was 11 years
mentioned or implied.
“Prof. Okojie, who was represented by the Deputy
Executive Secretary l, Prof. Chiedu Mafiana, had
explained that the new curriculum provides for a
seamless seven-year programme.
“With the new curriculum, a medical student would
be expected to graduate in Basic Medical Sciences,
with options in Anatomy, Medical Biochemistry and
Physiology in the first four years, before proceeding
for the clinical training that would run for three
years.”