Odili’s Tips to Reduce Medical Brain Drain

At the two-day induction and oath-taking ceremonies of PAMO University’s graduates in Port Harcourt, former Rivers State governor, Dr. Peter Odili, called for urgent measures to curb the mass migration of medical professionals, Blessing Ibunge writes

A veteran medical practitioner and former governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, last week gave some tips to the federal government on how to reduce the ‘japa’ syndrome in Nigeria.

Odili, who is the founder of the PAMO University of Medical Sciences in Port Harcourt, said upward salary review would stem the mass exodus of medical doctors.  He also gave another tip, urging states to emulate Rivers State by embarking on mass training of medical doctors through scholarship schemes, saying it would reduce the ‘japa’ effect by replacing those who leave the country.

 Speaking at the ‘Induction/Oath-taking’ of 65 newly graduated medical doctors from the university, the former governor who is also the Pro-Chancellor as well as Chairman of the university’s council, stated that the university has so far produced over 330 healthcare professionals in less than eight years of existence.

He added that if other institutions across the country could move at the same pace, the country would have enough medical practitioners and would not be affected by an unprecedented exodus abroad for greener pastures.

 He inferred that the country does not have the power to stop workers from moving beyond borders but suggested attractive salaries and fast reproduction of medical doctors could be a better option.

 The former governor also commended President Bola Tinubu for bold steps in the health sector, saying: “We congratulate him (Tinubu) and we urge him to pay very special attention to the training of health professionals because they hold the key to national health. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation.

 “We must be healthy first before wealth. So, I congratulate him (Tinubu) and urge the federal government to invest more and also look at the review of the remuneration of health workers. That way, we would be killing two birds with one stone,” Odili added.

Odili similarly thanked the state government, particularly Governor Siminalayi Fubara, for the initiative and sustenance of the scholarships for indigenous students.

 The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Professor Fatima Kyari, while inducting the graduates into MDCN, charged them to be good ambassadors of the institution and the council.

Kyari advised them to see their field of career as a calling and not a profession, warning that any person who indulges in any unwholesome practice would be sanctioned accordingly by the council.

She further warned the inductees not to build their practice on the trending artificial intelligence (A.I.), but on empathy with human feelings, which she said connects doctors with their patients.  

She commended Odili for giving women the competitive edge in the institution, noting that “At PAMO University, the span has grown from strength to strength”.

Two days earlier, the university had also graduated students from the Departments of Medical Laboratory Science, Nursing Science and Radiography and Radiation Science where Odili donated a total sum of N2.8 million and automatic employment to the graduates.

The 28 graduates, which included 18 from the Department of Nursing Science, seven from Medical Laboratory Science and three from the Department of Radiography and Radiation Science, would receive N100,000 each.

 Odili, who announced the donation at a joint induction/oath-taking ceremony of the graduates of the institution, also announced automatic employment for three graduates from the Department of Radiography and Radiation Science, at the PAMO Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt.

The former governor assured the medical laboratory science and nursing science graduates that the governing council of the institution would do all it could to ensure they get job placements. He appealed to them to remain worthy ambassadors of the institution, just as their predecessors.

 He also commended the state government for its commitment to ensuring citizens of Rivers State have standard education, especially in medical sciences.

 In his welcome address, the Acting Vice Chancellor of PUMS, Professor Smith Jaja, reminded the graduates that the pledge they made during the induction and oath-taking exercise would live with them forever.

The joint induction/oath-taking ceremony was administered to the graduates from the three departments by the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (MLSCN), the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) and the Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria (RRBN).

PAMO University is Nigeria’s first private institution dedicated only to medical sciences. The institution is well-equipped and furnished to world-class standards and situated in a serene environment in Port Harcourt.

The university currently has three faculties: Faculty of Clinical Sciences, the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences and the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences. Courses in the school are all fully accredited by medical and health professional bodies, including the NUC, MDCN, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Medical Laboratory Council, among others.

Hinged on maintaining its standards and policies, admission into the school is strictly based on merit with all the students taken in as residents on campus. It also has absolute zero tolerance for cultism and other related vices for both staff and students.

For students to fully concentrate on their studies and not show off affluence, they are not allowed to use private cars on campus, and are not allowed to loiter. Even visitors, parents and guardians are not allowed to have unscheduled visits.

Furthermore, the institution has some roles to foster modesty. It frowns at indecent dressing, as students are not allowed to wear revealing or provocative clothes. The school has a dress code for lectures and official functions for both students and officials.

PUMS boasts of conducive classrooms, halls, laboratories and library facilities and a home-away-from home hostel facility. Each room has two students. All the rooms are en suite with constant water supply and water heater. There is a 24-hour power supply policy.

One of the greatest strengths of the university is that it has an existing teaching hospital established by its founder, who is a renowned medical doctor, established in the 1980s called PAMO Clinics and Hospitals Group. This is in addition to the memorandum of understanding it has with the Rivers State government and the state University Teaching Hospital where its students have their clinical.

Currently, the management of the school has since unveiled PAMO University Hospital, a 250-bed integrated, purpose-built multi-specialty, tertiary-care private hospital. It also offers patient care services across a range of medical and surgical specialties and accessible healthcare to communities in Rivers, neighbouring states and Nigeria at large.

The hospital also provides high-quality medical treatment in the area of internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatrics to individuals, families and corporate organisations.

Unlike other universities where students are not exposed to hospital experience until they are in the 400 level, PAMO varsity ensures hands-on experience for the students at the hospitals.

This means that from takeoff, the hospitals would aid students right from early stages in order to have a full medical knowledge and experience.