Academy of Medicine Raises the Alarm Over Dropping Standard of Medical Education

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

Nigerian Academy of Medicine (NAMED) has expressed deep concern over the challenges facing the health sector, particularly the escalating decline in the quality of medical education in the country.

The academy, which promotes excellence in the knowledge of medical sciences, also decried the budgetary allocation to hospitals and tertiary health institutions in the country, which it said was grossly inadequate.

Speaking at the academy’s 2025 Annual Lecture, Induction Ceremony and Scientific Conference, held in Abuja, President of NAMED, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Samuel Ohaegbulam, said most universities were not adhering strictly to their approved quota, resulting in unacceptable numbers of students in classes.

Ohaegbulam said some classes had over 400 students. Even if the academic staff strength were commensurate with such numbers, institutions will still struggle to provide adequate infrastructure, equipment and mentoring for all, he said.

According to him, “We should be concerned about the quality of undergraduate medical education in the country. The universities are not adhering strictly to their approved quota, resulting in the unacceptable number of students in a class.”

Ohaegbulam said postgraduate medical education also faced a different challenge – that of not finding enough graduate students to be admitted since most of those that graduated preferred to seek greener pastures overseas.

The academy president also deplored what he described as unprecedented surge in the establishment of universities and medical colleges across the country, most of them poorly funded and equipped.

He said, “Nigeria doesn’t need more universities. It needs better ones. The future of our youth, our healthcare system and our national development depends on it.”

Guest lecturer at the annual conference, Professor John Idoko, who spoke on the health challenge posed by outbreak of Lassa Fever epidemic in some parts of the country, said the federal and state governments should take more proactive measures to check the spread.

Idoko commended the efforts of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) in increasing the number of laboratory testing centres across the country. But he said more testing centres should be established to enable accurate reporting on Lassa Fever cases.

Highlights of the conference included the induction of 20 new Fellows of the Academy of Medicine.