I met two young doctors recently. Both have finished medical school, upwards of 4 years and both have no direction. Sadly, there are thousands more like them out there, drifting through the medical career, seemingly without a future and no one cares. We should care! We must care and I hope you will read this article and do something about it. If you care!
Critical decision
Young Nigerian doctors are being churned out in increasing numbers into an unforgiving environment, to be used and abused by government, senior doctors, in both public and private hospitals. There is no career guidance for them, no assistance with training and no serious counselling.
These doctors know what they want to do, and where they would like to be, where they should be in their careers, but are stuck in mindless jobs at the service of the Nigerian government.
Just to keep body and soul together!
Four Stages of Learning
The Four Stages of Learning provides a model for learning. It suggests that individuals are initially unaware of how little they know, or unconscious of their incompetence. As they recognize their incompetence, they consciously acquire a skill, then consciously use it. Eventually, the skill can be utilized without it being consciously thought through: the individual is said to have then acquired unconscious competence
Consciously incompetent
You see, at some point, one realises the shallow pool of one’s education and poor preparedness to “really look” after sick people. You can then decide if you want more knowledge or you can make do with the little you have, to keep body and soul together. Nigerian doctors are being made to choose daily: become a specialist or a quack!
That was the point I reached when I decided to follow some of my friends and travel abroad for more training. I travelled out for more training because I reached just such a cross road. Unable to go back, unable to move forward and forced to choose between becoming a quack or a specialist. My conscience would not allow me to rest, knowing, that I know very little. Not enough to manage my patients at the level they deserved, and in ways that would allow me to sleep peacefully at night!
Choose one
There is no organised career guidance and no assistance with the education of doctors after leaving medical school. The government uses and abuses young doctors in the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) and then dumps them into the society to fend for themselves.
The career path towards specialisation in Nigeria is difficult and soul destroying. The pass rates for our specialist postgraduate colleges is so poor you wonder if the postgraduate colleges are fit for purpose. Many young doctors fail the examinations repeatedly. Indeed, my young friends have failed multiple times and have a better chance playing the lottery. Yet, they cannot move forward without passing the exams.
Why are we destroying young doctors?
The numbers
You might wonder if we have enough doctors in Nigeria. According to the WHO, the ratio for any country to have enough doctors for its population is 1:600 (one doctor of every 600 persons). We in Nigeria therefore need about 237, 000 medical doctors and we have only about 35,000 working in the country today.
We have trained more than that as many have left the country to seek a better life in other countries. We have 700 doctors leaving Nigeria annually according to some figures.According to a survey by Nigerian Polling organization (NOIPolls), 8 out of every 10 medical doctors in Nigeria are currently seeking work opportunities abroad, and this includes junior, mid and senior level doctors in both public and private medical institutions.
Poor salaries, poor emoluments, high taxes, poor conditions of service, poor quality of working environment and poor knowledge base have been highlighted as the major reasons young doctors are leaving the country. There are about 50, 000 Nigerian doctors working abroad. Many cannot come back to work in our hostile environment.
Conclusion
Nigeria needs doctors. Nigeria needs to protect and nurture young doctors. We all need a mental reset. Nigeria needs to either scrap the NYSC or make it fit for purpose. The NYSC could be used to assist young Nigerian graduates to plan their future and it presents an opportunity to assist them in getting meaningful work place placements in line with their career objectives.
The Colleges are a major impediment to career progression of young doctors. They sap the life out of many young doctors and should be overhauled. Nigerian doctors should not have to choose between becoming a competent practitioner with better training or a quack, just making do with half education!
Join the fight to invest in Nigeria’s future flagbearers!
