Haba! Incompetent Medical Doctors
The phrase, incompetent doctors, could make anyone quiver with trepidation. And for those who need medical attention for one ailment or the other, it could provoke a psychological chaos.
Come to think of it, in a clime where prominent public office holders and high network businessmen scamper abroad for medical check up, those who constitute a larger chunk of the populace are bound to ponder and tremble, more so, when such spine-chilling disclosure is made by those who regulate the training of medical doctors.
And the acting Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, (MDCN), Dr. Abdulmumini Ibrahim, chose a well attended stakeholders meeting on “qualitative medical education”, in Abuja, to hammer on a nagging aspect of what, today, appears to have severely traumatised the Nigerian medical system. Meticulous in his choice of words, Dr. Ibrahim censured a pervasive procedure of “over admission” of medical students, which, consequently, have led to an “over graduation of medical doctors”, as he addressed provosts of medical colleges, consultants, teachers and administrators of specialist teaching hospitals.
"What is happening in the admission system in our medical schools is a gross violation of the approved quota”, he noted.
He observed: “This is a gross deviation from the policies and the objectives of setting up our medical education system which is not only being overburdened but defeated”. So, what is the result of over admission of medical students and over graduation of medical doctors? “All the objectives of medical education have not been realised judging from the performance of our young graduates. Their competences are deliberately being tested, and in most cases, they are found to be incompetent”, he remarked.
Dr. Ibrahim made a pensive assessment of the rather shambolic medical educational system that has demonstratively catapulted the frenetic drive for revenue through over admission, far and above the quality of medical doctors it produces, and noted, more in pain than in anger, that “one of the consequences of over admission is the over graduation of poor quality doctors”, who are not only poor in knowledge, but also lack courage. They are of low morale and frequently display unethical behaviour”.
He further noted that “it is now common to see a class with over 400 students receiving lectures, in most cases, practical course are not been conducted.
He warned: “This gross violation of the rule deserves withdrawal of accreditation, and believe me, the council is ready to do it. This is a shame and the situation must be reversed”.
Dr. Ibrahim concluded: “These behaviour are also displayed at the international level as evidenced by the increasing reports the council receives from the General Medical Council on bad behaviours and poor attitude to work of some Nigerian trained doctors”.
Regulating Herbal Medicine
True, some self-acclaimed peripatetic jesters, who operate from their dog-eared bags, suffused with phoney concoctions, which they loquaciously promote as cure-all herbal medicines, do, clearly, unleash a reverberating backlash of condemnation on traditional medicine practice.Yes, the unlettered claim by some Traditional Medicine Practitioners, (TMP's), on the number of ailments one sufferable herbal medicine can cure, do, in many instances, provoke a bout of prolong laughter, a mournful sigh and a sorrowful shake of the head.
Sadly, their irresponsible behaviour has exposed traditional medicine practice to a welter of ridicule and public odium. In all sincerity, the traditional medicine sub-sector can't entirely be written off, just because of the black legs who are swindling people desperately in search of cure for their ailments.
Bad eggs, yes! But we have them virtually in all professions. Don't we? They are in the banks; the media; the academia; the judiciary; in the financial institutions, including the stock exchanges. Oh yes! And these include medical doctors who prescribe wrong medicines for their patients; those whose diagnosis for their patients indicate asthma, rather than cancer. Oh, yes, as well as doctors who casually forget surgical items inside the body of their patients after an operation.
Hold your breath! Mind you, these doctors are well schooled; registered with the Nigeria Medical and Dental Association, (NMDA), and operate under a federal law regulating their practice. The law does not make the hood, does it?
Therefore, the remark by the President of the National Association of Resident Doctors, (NARD), Dr. Adekunle Ashimi, that TMP's have been “making false claims of producing drugs that can cure all ailments” is not untrue.
He is right to an extent, but goofed in his generalisation that “these native practitioners make reckless claims which are not helping our people at all”. The phrase “native practitioners” is derogatory and unfortunate, and not a true reflection of the intellectual status of some modern TMP's.
Today, qualified medical doctors, reputable pharmacists and even teachers in post graduate medical schools, who are of sound mind, remain unabashed practitioners of traditional medicine. They do not make spurious claims. Those who make such I-cure-all claims are the economic desperadoes who are thoroughly patent charlatans.
As for a law to regulate traditional medicine practice, here, indeed, is a piece of valuable information for our resident doctor. A bill for an act to establish a Traditional Medicine Council has been before the National Assembly since 2005. Can Dr. Ashimi render any valuable assistance? In situations like this, you never really can tell!