FG approves medical fellowship as equivalent of PhD

The Federal Government has approved medical fellowships awarded by recognised professional medical colleges as equivalent to a PhD in Nigeria. The decision follows years of debate over whether medical doctors must obtain a PhD as a terminal degree to progress academically to the rank of professor. In 2016, a committee set up by the Medical […]

The Federal Government has approved medical fellowships awarded by recognised professional medical colleges as equivalent to a PhD in Nigeria.

The decision follows years of debate over whether medical doctors must obtain a PhD as a terminal degree to progress academically to the rank of professor.

In 2016, a committee set up by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) recommended that a PhD should be the qualification for teaching and attaining professorship in the basic medical sciences.

However, it noted that the fellowship of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) should qualify holders to teach clinical aspects of medical degree programmes.

The issue became more contentious in 2021 when the National Universities Commission (NUC) ruled that postgraduate fellowships awarded by the NPMCN, the West African College of Physicians (WACP), the West African College of Surgeons (WACS), and similar bodies were not equivalent to a PhD.

In 2023, the commission reiterated that medical lecturers needed master’s and doctoral degrees to rise to the professorial rank.

However, briefing State House correspondents in Abuja after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced that the government had now recognised medical fellowships as equivalent to PhD degrees.

He said FEC approved amendments to the National Postgraduate Medical College (NPMC) Act, developed in collaboration with the Attorney-General of the Federation, to remove barriers for highly specialised medical practitioners.

He noted that many doctors spend about 16 years in medical school, residency and fellowship training, making additional PhD requirements unnecessary.

“The kind of degree we need in Nigeria today for doctors is MBBS and fellowship qualifications obtained after residency training,” he said.

Alausa added that once the executive bill is transmitted to the National Assembly and passed, the fellowship qualification of the NPMC will be recognised as equivalent to a PhD.