FG Approves Medical Fellowship as Equivalent of PhD

The federal government has approved medical fellowships awarded by professional medical colleges as equivalent of PhD degrees in Nigeria. 

This comes on the heels of a long-standing debate over whether medical professionals must have a PhD as a terminal degree for academic progression into the professorship cadre.

In 2016, a committee set up by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) submitted that the qualification to teach and rise to professorship in the basic medical sciences should be the PhD.

It, however, noted that the qualification to teach the clinical aspects of the medical degree programme should be the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) fellowship.

In 2021, the National Universities Commission (NUC) declared that post-graduate medical fellowships from NPMCN, the West African College of Physicians (WACP), the West African College of Surgeons (WACS), and other related bodies are not equivalent to PhD degree.

In 2023, the NUC also reiterated its stance on the need for medical doctors in the academics to acquire Master’s and doctorate degrees to enable them attain the rank of professors.

Briefing State House correspondents in Abuja after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, Tunji Alausa, minister of education, said the federal government has finally recognised medical fellowships as PhD equivalents.

Alausa said FEC approved amendments to the National Postgraduate Medical College (NPMC) Act, developed with the attorney-general, to eliminate barriers for super-specialised doctors.

“We need to remove the dichotomy of doctors who spent almost 16 years from medical school and their residency, and then doing their fellowship, becoming super specialised,” he said.

“The kind of degree we need in Nigeria today for doctors is MBBS, Master of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.”

He noted that those in the medical sector often spend more years to obtain a PhD, noting that once the executive bill has been sent to the national assembly, “the NPMC will now act as a PhD equivalent”.

During the meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu, FEC also imposed a six-year ban on the establishment of privately-owned universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

It also restored the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-formal Education (NMEC) to its full status as an independent commission.