SAN FRANCISCO, December 20, (THEWILL) – Graduates of medical colleges from 9 Nigerian higher institutions seeking to register or obtain a license to practice in the United Kingdom have been barred by the General Medical Council (GMC) of the United Kingdom.

PLAB, is the UK exam that enables non UK Medical graduates to undertake post graduate medical training in the country.

The GMC is a body of independent regulators that registers doctors to practice medicine in the UK.

The decision to bar qualifications from the medical colleges was taken on 14 February 2011.

According to guidelines issued by the GMC, doctors and medical graduates who obtained their qualifications after December 10, 2010 from the affected institutions would not be approved to take the PLAB test.

The Nigerian schools barred according to the GMC’s are:

1. Ambrose Ali University (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010).

2. Ebonyi State University (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010).

3. Igbinedion University College of Health Sciences (this applies only to those who graduated on or after 1 April 2010).

4. Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010).

5. Nnamdi Azikiwe University (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010).

6. University of Benin (this applies only to those who graduated on or after 1 April 2010).

7. University of Jos (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010).

8. University of Nigeria (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010) and

9. University of Port Harcourt (this only applies to those who graduated after 10 December 2010).

Explaining the reason behind the council’s decision, Jason Day of the GMC’s Press Office in an email exchange with THEWILL’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Austyn Ogannah said, the GMC took the decision because the schools no longer met the necessary standards, adding that its role is to ensure that doctors seeking to practice in the UK are fit to practice and have the necessary skills.

In doing this, Mr. Day said the GMC considers information received about whether foreign medical schools are reaching the necessary benchmarks before making a decision whether to continue to accept their qualifications for registration, noting that the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) previously advised that they had suspended their accreditation of certain medical schools in Nigeria.

“The decision only applies to students who graduated from those medical schools after the MDCN suspended their accreditation,” he added.

THEWILL further gathered that the GMC is currently considering information from the MDCN indicating that they have reinstated the medical schools’ accreditation. Day said the council is currently reviewing its position on the disqualification.

The Registrar of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), Dr. Abdulmumini Ibrahim did not respond to our email enquiry before press time.