439 Foreign-trained Doctors Failed Assessment Exams In Nigeria

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has disclosed that 439 foreign-trained medical and dental graduates failed the assessment examination it conducted.

The assessment examination was conducted on November 23 and November 24, 2022, at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

The council’s Registrar, Dr Tijani Sanusi, told Punch that 916 foreign-trained medical and dental candidates sat for the assessment examination but only 477 candidates passed.

He said: "24 candidates sat for the examination in Dentistry, eight passed and 16 failed. 892 candidates sat for the medical examination, 469 passed and 423 failed."

Sanusi added that the assessment examination is a global practice.

He explained: "It is a global practice that if you train in a particular jurisdiction and you want to go to another jurisdiction, you subject yourself to an assessment examination.

"Even if you are a Professor of Medicine here and you have never practised in the United Kingdom or the United States, when you go in there, you subject yourself to their assessment examination."

The assessment examination is meant for foreign-trained medical doctors and dental surgeons who want to practice in Nigeria.