Medical Fellowships Now PhD Equivalent In Nigeria
The Federal Government has officially approved medical fellowships awarded by recognised professional medical colleges as equivalent to a PhD in Nigeria. This landmark decision, announced on Wednesday, follows years of debate regarding the academic progression of doctors within the nation's higher education system.
The move by the Nigerian Federal Government aims to remove long-standing academic barriers for highly specialised medical practitioners. For years, there has been extensive discussion over whether medical doctors should be required to obtain a PhD as a terminal degree to advance academically to the rank of professor.
Years of Academic Debate Concluded
In 2016, a committee established by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) put forward recommendations. It suggested that a PhD should be the qualifying degree for teaching and achieving professorship in the basic medical sciences. However, the committee also noted that the fellowship of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) should suffice for holders to teach clinical aspects of medical degree programmes.
The issue gained significant contention in 2021 when the National Universities Commission (NUC) ruled that postgraduate fellowships, including those from the NPMCN, the West African College of Physicians (WACP), and the West African College of Surgeons (WACS), and similar bodies were not equivalent to a PhD. This stance was reiterated by the commission in 2023, which maintained that medical lecturers needed both master’s and doctoral degrees for professorial advancement.
Government's Rationale for Change
Addressing State House correspondents in Abuja after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, confirmed the government’s new recognition of medical fellowships. He announced that the FEC had approved amendments to the National Postgraduate Medical College (NPMC) Act, developed in collaboration with the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Minister Alausa highlighted the extensive training already undertaken by doctors. He pointed out that many medical practitioners spend approximately 16 years in medical school, followed by residency and fellowship training, making additional PhD requirements superfluous. “The kind of degree we need in Nigeria today for doctors is MBBS and fellowship qualifications obtained after residency training,” he asserted.
Alausa further clarified that once the executive bill is transmitted to the National Assembly and successfully passed, the fellowship qualification of the NPMC will be formally recognised as equivalent to a PhD, streamlining the academic career path for medical health professionals. This decision is expected to significantly impact medical education and academic progression across the country.