Medicine and Surgery; Is It Truly Worth The Attention It Gets?

I woke up at about 6am, said my prayers and exited the room only to find a flock of birds flying past the roof. Amazingly, the hens and cocks were stretching their feathers and feeling awesome not minding nor even noticing the height of their counterparts.

I logged on to facebook to see if she replied the chats I sent her last night but NO, she didn't. It's obvious she is sad. It's her third year of applying for Medicine and Surgery and this time, she was offered provisional admission to study Food Science and Technology. I could guess, she felt her dreams has been shattered again.

I care for her a lot but I just couldn't find a means to pacify her so I kept my cool.

I've had the privilege of meeting prospective undergraduates on various occasions and their clamour for Medicine and Surgery is alarming. Sometimes it's very difficult to ascertain what fuels their desire.

Why do you want to Study Medicine? Most of them don't seem to have any answer.

They either grew up in an Igbo family where the parents so much believe that the way out of poverty and lack is for their ward to become a medical doctor or while in secondary school, they belonged to a class where 90% of the brilliant ones kept singing Medicine and because they didn't want to feel less than equal, they joined the bandwagon.

Every year, thousands of students apply for Medicine, yet, very few get admitted.

11,130 candidates applied for Medicine and Surgery in UNN alone and not more than 200 will be admitted.
It's is already clear that more than 10,000 will be denied admission.

Same with other 24 FULLY accredited Medical schools in Nigeria.

Only about 1.6% of people who apply for Medicine in Nigeria get admitted yearly.

And only 56% of the admitted students end up becoming doctors.

If you successfully scale through the 6years spent in school, getting a placement for housemanship within the stipulated 2years becomes another bridge to cross. If you eventually end up not getting a place, you will have to resit your final exams this time conducted by the Medical body not your school and you will have to pay plus the high failure rate involved.

Looking at the stress in the journey to becoming a doctor, one should be able to vow that these guys should be the most successful set of people in the society but unfortunately, the reality is different.

Failure in Marriage:
Whatever business, ministry or profession that takes a toll on your family life has made you a failure and that is the predicament of most Doctors. I read an article where an American Medical Body reacted to a medical divorce research by saying only 23% of Doctors have a failed marriage as against the 27% earlier proven, what difference does it make?

I don't have a problem with the statistics because in Nigeria, you will rarely find any divorce case but I've been to Doctors' houses and to be sincere, their wives suffer lack of attention and so do their kids. But the Nigerian culture has taught ladies to tolerate till Jesus comes. In the book 'for men only', 80% of the women interviewed said they would rather suffer financial insufficiency in their homes than lack of attention from their spouse.

He goes to work even on Sundays, he never thinks of taking his family on a vacation, he comes home by 9pm and is so exhausted to chat with his wife and as he lays to sleep, two hours later, the nurse is on the phone 'Doctor there is an emergency' and he rushes out by 11pm and that is the profession that thousands of deceived Nigerian students wants.

Financially:
Doctors are not poor but very few of them are rich. 300k per month, you have a wife and children, you have house rent to settle and have other family members who has a perception that you are rich so they make demands on you. I've never seen a Doctor riding a Range Rover, you only see them on Toyota Camry, Corolla, Honda and other 1-2million naira cars.

Business:
If they invest in other businesses, maybe things will be better. I was with a Doctor in the Medical Centre here and he began lamenting that even if he wants to do anything like business, he won't have time for it and people will end up taking advantage of him. Moreso, if at the workplace, they realize that you have investments, you will be denied certain financial privileges.

I am not despising the medical profession, as I can't deny the fact that the society can't survive without them. I am only worried that an individual spends 7years resitting Jamb simply because he wants to study Medicine.

Come to a gathering and introduce yourself as a medical doctor, nobody will bow to you, outside the school setting what speaks is your
Success in life not your A in Pathology.

How many less privileged kids have you given a reason to smile by sending them to school? How many homes have your existence deleted poverty from their lineage. Therein lies fulfilment.

We need doctors, don't get me wrong but our quest for the medical profession is not worth it. It has crippled rich minds, buried companies that would have been providing 10,000 jobs today and hidden business potentials and leadership models in the chocking atmosphere of the hospital.

So guys, don't feel bad if you not admitted to study Medicine, settle for anything. It's your imagination in life that counts not your IQ. Make the best out your life wherever you find yourself.

Share your opinions please.

It's not their fault. Na PMB cause am...

we truly need doctors. but need more counsellors in our secondary schools,to help guide our students. so they will not make the mistake of trying to,or study medicine and surgery when they should be teachers...secondly,I guess everybody is trying to escape poverty in Nigeria..

medicine and surgery na hot cake for Niger, just tell any girl that you're a doctor, she go smile....

and once a girl is dating a medical doctor

next..... she will alert her family, friends and social media.... medical doctor on the way, make una clear road... levels don change

True talk...Nice post.. Op, your post is great!!!

I left the line of dreaming in the medical line after I discovered I hated drugs, smell of drugs, hate seeing blood and see people in pain.
Now I went to a line I could do better and I got admitted immediately. All my classmates then who applied MBBS are yet to be admitted and to make matters worst they still applied same thing this year

Been waiting for this thread for so long, This medicine thing is Toxically overhyped, this goes to show that even our parents are not observant about changes in their communities if not they would advice their children against M&Surg or better send them to US or European med schools where their hard work will eventually pay off. I just got to know people who study in Nigerian med schools eventually soend more than the usual 6/7years some go as far as 11yrs because of the strikes and carryovers and after that the struggle for a place for the compulsory 12months housejob is not easy as u can keep searching for that for more than 1 year, some even have to bribe or devote their 1st 3months salaries to get a place to start internship and guess what they are being paid about 130k/mnth on an average, u can imagine the night calls and early punctual presence in the hospital with no days off, working under poor hospital conditions. Life as a Doctor especially young doctors fresh out off school in Nigeria is tormenting, And that 300k u talked about is for Senior Resident doctors only in Teaching hospitals, convert that to $ and imagine how can a married man buy the Range Rovers and go on Vacation with Family with that take home pay, There are so much irrelevant exams to climb up the rank hierarchy in Nigeria and they all have high failure rates with about 5% pass or even less so doctors now even resort to 50k 100k/mnth pay from private hospitals, if you've been following the news u would know about the massive brain drain On doctors in Nigeria and the thousands who can't just continue and just resign from service to go into business or smth else worth living for(Somebody cannot come and kee himself in this country)the few who leave Nigeria to better countries even take up semi skilled jobs like Taxi drivers in the Us and Canada and they live on that because it's better than being a fully employed doctor in Nigeria. Let somebody tell these youngsters drunk on M&Surg o! If they will hear word

Mods this is front page Material

Stallion93:
Been waiting for this thread for so long, This medicine thing is Toxically overhyped, this goes to show that even our parents are not observant about changes in their communities if not they would advice their children against M&Surg or better send them to US or European med schools where their hard work will eventually pay off. I just got to know people who study in Nigerian med schools eventually soend more than the usual 6/7years some go as far as 11yrs because of the strikes and carryovers and after that the struggle for a place for the compulsory 12months housejob is not easy as u can keep searching for that for more than 1 year, some even have to bribe or devote their 1st 3months salaries to get a place to start internship and guess what they are being paid about 130k/mnth on an average, u can imagine the night calls and early punctual presence in the hospital with no days off, working under poor hospital conditions. Life as a Doctor especially young doctors fresh out off school in Nigeria is tormenting, And that 300k u talked about is for Senior Resident doctors only in Teaching hospitals, convert that to $ and imagine how can a married man buy the Range Rovers and go on Vacation with Family with that take home pay, There are so much irrelevant exams to climb up the rank hierarchy in Nigeria and they all have high failure rates with about 5% pass or even less so doctors now even resort to 50k 100k/mnth pay from private hospitals, if you've been following the news u would know about the massive brain drain On doctors in Nigeria and the thousands who can't just continue and just resign from service to go into business or smth else worth living for(Somebody cannot come and kee himself in this country)the few who leave Nigeria to better countries even take up semi skilled jobs like Taxi drivers in the Us and Canada and they live on that because it's better than being a fully employed doctor in Nigeria. Let somebody tell these youngsters drunk on M&Surg o! If they will hear word

Everything here is very true. Medicine is the worst course anyone can study. Very stupid useless profession especially in Nigeria. Very poor pay, bullying in the profession, useless extremely difficult exams you have to write, insane working hours all for what. My mom is a medical doctor and I would never wish the same on an enemy.

tensazangetsu20:

Everything here is very true. Medicine is the worst course anyone can study. Very stupid useless profession especially in Nigeria. Very poor pay, bullying in the profession, useless extremely difficult exams you have to write, insane working hours all for what. My mom is a medical doctor and I would never wish the same on an enemy.

So true man, almost forgot the bully part. I recall the serious bullying on junior docs by their superiors when i was having my clinical attachment in 1 of them Naija Teaching hospitals. My own is i will run soon, i
Just need small capital to start up a business and have peace of mind

Stallion93:
So true man, almost forgot the bully part. I recall the serious bullying on junior docs by their superiors when i was having my clinical attachment in 1 of them Naija Teaching hospitals. My own is i will run soon, i
Just need small capital to start up a business and have peace of mind

Medicine is bad very bad but law is worse. I am waiting for someone to create a thread on lawyers. In school they all work with their shoulders high up but today 90 percent are in abject poverty.

tensazangetsu20:

Medicine is bad very bad but law is worse. I am waiting for someone to create a thread on lawyers. In school they all work with their shoulders high up but today 90 percent are in abject poverty.

Toh! Medicine and Law dan cast, well what should we expect in A Shithole country? I guess the way out now is to acquire some Computer(Hardware or software) skill and leave this country

Stallion93:
Toh! Medicine and Law dan cast, well what should we expect in A Shithole country? I guess the way out now is to acquire some Computer(Hardware or software) skill and leave this country

Skills can't be overemphasised unfortunately many people are still living in eldorados and when reality dawns on them it's too late. Imagine spending your productive years chasing an eldorado and wake up at 30 with nothing. It will never be our portion in jesus name.

tensazangetsu20:

Skills can't be overemphasised unfortunately many people are still living in eldorados and when reality dawns on them it's too late. Imagine spending your productive years chasing an eldorado and wake up at 30 with nothing. It will never be our portion in jesus name.

God help us, Nigeria is Light years away from Eldorado, worse is the country is not even safe enough for people to move around to interact and get some sorta skill or smth, Wonder why we not yet marching outta this hell en masse as refugees or smth already

Stallion93:
God help us, Nigeria is Light years away from Eldorado, worse is the country is not even safe enough for people to move around to interact and get some sorta skill or smth, Wonder why we not yet marching outta this hell en masse as refugees or smth already

Many of the students in Nigeria are still living in eldorados the compulsory service year extends it by one year. Many don't know the harsh realities they will face once they graduate.

tensazangetsu20:

Many of the students in Nigeria are still living in eldorados the compulsory service year extends it by one year. Many don't know the harsh realities they will face once they graduate.

Yea true, and they don't wanna know, like they always say "I am
Moving into the Favor market not Labor market" That individual self centered care for oneself and his Personal God only makes them ignorant about the realities on ground that there is no functional system in place to carter for them all as Post Service fresh Cilvil servants and Citizens of A country with so much resources

Lalasticala this is front page worthy. It will educate our youths.

Front page material mods please...I had the same idea in my secondary school then..

This is a very informative thread..Medicine and surgery is overhyped There are lot of things about the profession that are not clear to people but their eyes become clearer once they start working..I don't even envy them one bit.Secondary school students should be wel-oriented on career before they write jamb.Every science student wants to study MBBS..

Only those who are enlightened will understand this write-up.

There were over 140,000 applicants for medicine in 2016...I just shake my head at these young chaps who are oblivious of reality.

Truth is, we don't have enough doctors and we need more (only about 60,000 doctors for 180million people isn't a good statistics) but the number of hospitals for them to practice is limited. And even the available hospitals are poorly funded and managed so they don't employ enough doctors.

And This Medicine Of A Thing Is Not Among The Courses With High Pay In Nigeria, Not Even Globally!

Elouise:
It's not only medicine man, Nigeria is a shit hole generally trust me. dude, in the present day Nigeria, you'd see contract staff in banks with nicely starched shirts if you no how much they earn you'd just Shake your head. check lawyers and others. Some people are lucky to get federal government jobs as MOs and are better. this happens with other jobs as well. some are lucky/connected enough to get high paying jobs whilst the rest are unemployed or underemployed.
yeah, the bullying part is terrible, especially in Ibadan Medical School. maybe because of Yoruba culture too. how can someone curse and call people unprintable names throughout a class which is supposed to be about fluid and electrolyte.

It's true sha. The country is cursed. I studied marine engineering but there is no job anywhere in this bleeped up country.

Lalasticlala abeg come and move this to Frontpage

Medicine is tiring and boring.
The system will always find a way to bring you down.
Can you imagine that some of us have been in school since 2011 without repeating ohh.
Doing final year for 1 full year coupled with toxic consultants that don't just want you to progress.

After all this, you finish and have to wait close to 1 year for house job and all the other shit.
The society keeps placing much responsibilities on you.

It is not to discourage prospective med surg students though, we just have to tell you guys that you must have a life plan as you are coming into med school - as for me, I lost my passion about the thing since year 1 sef. Make I just gradge go reason wetin I go do with my life.

Medicine in Nigeria is shit - except you know what you are doing and enjoying it too.

Why did you have to use the Igbo family for such example? does it mean that it's only the Igbo parents that harp on their wards to study medicine, all because of the money? that's the weak point of this great write up.
Be that as it may, the piece is a great one and enlightening. How I wish our teenagers or young lads still nursing the idea of studying 'medicine or nothing' have a glance through this well scripted work. Not just medicine, most so called professional or lofty courses are now becoming irrelevant in the present day Nigeria. Our youths aren't helping matter, they are easily swayed by what the society has been holding onto for long, none of them wants to make that paradigm shift.
The only place where there are tilting towards whenever they can't make it to the so called highly rated course is, entertainment, which ain't bad but is becoming saturated.


I know very soon we would have that leader that would put everything in place the way the suppose to be.

but when they go to uk or canada they can make over 150k usd. abegi its worth it

Me will now enter school to waste 7full years alongside extra years of study for such a course? I don madt be that. Do I look like the 7years of famine in Joseph's dream?

Have a close sister that's doing one now, 5th year or so, she was livid and social, but is now opposite all her previous characters, and attitude. Good brother of the Lord that wants to marry her is still shocked at the updown side changes....


Will now finish and be employing babysitter for my kids in the name of what?

And then Doctor for hospital fit catch her knack her for one corner aspa science student. Doctors and nurses understand all about knocking to a high degree, and nurses love doctors that have gone far and wide.


The midwife's own sef.... Getting fat is part of their own side of treatment. just full ground like lokozuna.

yeyerolling:
but when they go to uk or canada they can make over 150k usd. abegi its worth it

How many of them will get to work in Canada or UK?

Let's be realistic...

Those countries are not very easy to enter like you portray it.

We love it so...
Some people actually find fulfilment in Medicine and surgery.
I enjoyed my stay in medical school,and I am still enjoying my stay in FMC...
I have other plans for my life,my medical career forms a part of the big picture;not the big picture itself.
Moreover,the issue of writing JAMB UTME 5-6 times is only obtainable in Nigeria.in developed countries,admission into medicine has its own process which is not such a 'nightmare' as it is in Nigeria.