TheCable

A total of 687 foreign-trained medical and dental graduates have been inducted into the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.

The induction ceremony, chaired by Olorunnibe Mamora, minister of state for health, took place at Sheraton Hotel, Abuja, on Thursday.

Mamora advised them to always be of good conduct and ensure that they perform their duties efficiently and with utmost loyalty and commitment.

Abba Hassan, chairman of the council, disclosed that 1, 228 candidates sat for the examination of which 687 passed while 541 failed.

He said the 55.9% success recorded was an improvement on the past  examination “especially the clinical in which over 80% of the candidates passed.”

According to him, almost all the candidates performed poorly in the computer  based part of the examination where “less than 30% got above 50% in the CBT while none of the 20 Dental surgeons who appeared for the examination passed.”

Officials at the induction

Hassan said the qualified inductees were trained  in over 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Carribean, Eastern Europe, Middle East,  North and South America.

He added the council was critically studying the “performance index of the candidates by country of qualification and will come up with statistics to advise state governments and parents who sponsor the candidates on where to send students if it is necessary”.

He further said the council,  together  with stakeholders, came up with suggestions on how to improve the performance of the candidates to be clinically competent and safe to be interns after assessment examination.

This, he said, might include one year attachment before they appear for the assessment examination.

He reminded inductees that internship was the foundation of training as a doctor.

“This is the beginning of mentorship and commitment to patient care,” Hassan said.

He advised them to take their assignment seriously and “devote all their time during these 12 months”.