The Nigerian Medical Association has raised the alarm over the growing migration of doctors, saying medical students now begin planning to leave the country even before completing their training.
The NMA President, Prof Afekhide-Ernest Omoti, disclosed this while responding to inquiries from Sunday PUNCH, stressing that the development posed a serious threat to the country’s health system and required urgent intervention by the Federal Government.
Omoti said the situation had become so entrenched that some Nigerian medical students were already preparing for foreign qualifying examinations before completing their studies, with the intention of relocating soon after obtaining professional registration.
“The Nigerian medical student, even before he graduates, is already planning how to leave the country because he’s seen what is ahead of him, that there is no future ahead,” he said.
According to him, young doctors often begin writing foreign examinations during their internship so they can leave the country immediately after completing the registration process.
