Kaduna State University to graduate 100 medical doctors - Commissioner

The Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Dr Andrew Nok, on Wednesday, said the Kaduna State University (KASU) would be able to produce 100 medical doctors annually in three years time.

He said this at a two-day workshop organised for staff of Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital on attaining a new status as a Tertiary Healthcare Service Providers held in Kaduna. Nok said “I am confident to tell you that with the accreditation of the Barau Dikko Hospital to become a teaching hospital of the Kaduna State University, it should have the capacity to graduate not less than 100 medical doctors annually, starting in the next three years. “You can imagine what that can do to our health system.”

The commissioner described the accreditation of the hospital by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) as a breakthrough in the state government’s quest to develop manpower for its health sector.

He added that “the current government is paying serious attention to health issues. “The government has committed some funds to ensure that the hospital got the needed infrastructure, manpower and other facilities for accreditation as a teaching hospital.” Advertisement Nok added that the hospital would go beyond training fresh medical doctors to providing professional training to resident doctors who wanted to become consultants.

He said that the essence of the training was to equip staff of the hospital with the skills to perform effectively as staff of a teaching hospital. “With the new status as tertiary healthcare service provider, staff of the hospital need to know the challenges that lie ahead of them and how best to handle them,” he said.

The Vice-Chancellor of KASU, Prof. William Qurix, said the accreditation was a breakthrough, which would confer on the institution the recognition to provide both academic and professional training in the medical field. He called on the students to work hard to justify government’s support in securing the accreditation.

The Registrar of MDCN, Dr Abdulmumini Ibrahim, urged the management staff of the hospital to encourage inter-professional harmony and ethical behaviour among staff. In a paper entitle: “Minimum Standard Requirement in Tertiary Healthcare Facilities for Effective Service Delivery”, Ibrahim also stressed the need to adhere strictly to public service rules.