Akin Osibogun, president of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Ijanikin, Lagos State, says more than 30,000 Nigerian doctors have left the country for different parts of the world.
Mr Osibogun, a professor of public health, said that the brain drain was affecting Nigeria’s health sector.
He made the disclosure at a press conference on Tuesday to announce the college’s 41st convocation ceremony scheduled for Thursday (Sept. 21).
The professor said that migration of doctors had become a challenge to the college in terms of having enough doctors to train.
“We need to keep training more and retaining more in the country through provision of financial and non-financial incentives by governments.
“Every medical doctor needs to enjoy the work they are doing to boost for productivity at the various hospitals.
“There is need for improvement of work environment, providing more facilities at hospitals, especially the teaching and general hospitals.
“We need to put in place mechanisms to ensure that our skilled manpower can remain in the country,” Mr Osibogun said.
He noted that the college was the only body responsible for producing postgraduate medical doctors for Nigeria.
“This college determines the curriculum, training format, and acceptable certificate of medical specialists.
“As of today, the college has produced over 8,500 medical specialists.
“In addition, the college modulates and assesses fellows trained by other colleges such as West African College of Physicians and West Africa College of Surgeons,” Mr Osibogun said.
He said that the college would graduate 413 postgraduate fellows and 92 doctors of medicine on Thursday.
“We have about 10,000 resident doctors-in-training in different accredited training institutions in the country.
“Our fellows can be found in different parts of the country working as consultants in teaching hospitals and general hospitals, and they provide specialised services in ministries of health all over the country.
“The curriculum of this college is so robust. The training incorporates doctoral level training, academic training, professional training and leadership training,” Mr Osibogun said.
He called for collaborations and partnerships with media organisations and education institutions as well as Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
“We want TETFUND to recognise the role of this college as an inter-university centre,” Mr Osibogun said.
(NAN)