Stakeholders Reacts Over Increase Duration of Medical Students

Stakeholders in education sector have reacted over the increase duration of medical student which is planned by  the National Universities Commission, NUC. The NUC are planing to increase it from six to eleven years. But the stakeholders are not in support because the development is  expensive, discouraging and will lead to lack of medical doctors in Nigeria.

Professor Oyesoji Aremu, Deputy Director, Distance Learning Institute, DLI, University of Ibadan, reacted to this saying, “The announcement of NUC that medical students would have to spend 11 years for medical education appears too much a year to be spent in medical schools.” He explained the negative impact on the students, parents, profession and the nation and also it will reduce the number of candidates that want to study  the course. He also added that this will also affect Nigerian health sector.

He also added that, it will take an average of 29 years for an individual to be a medical student, provided he/she enters university at the age of 17.

The Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar, UNICAL, Professor Florence Banku-Obi, also reacted to this saying: “NUC just made a statement that has not been backed up by any policy. No policy or curriculum to guide them on that.”she also added that this could be broken down, adding that students be given the opportunity to graduate in the first phase and continue after their first degree to read medicine.