The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Edo Branch, has called on the Federal Government and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to increase housemanship slots for newly qualified doctors.
It warned that limited placements could leave more medical graduates unable to proceed with their professional training.
The NMA chairman in Edo, Dr Andrew Eigbedion, raised the concern at the 21st Oath-Taking and Induction Ceremony of Igbinedion University, Okada (IUO), where 65 newly qualified medical doctors were inducted.
Egbinedion warned that expanding admission into Medicine and Surgery without a corresponding increase in housemanship capacity could create another bottleneck for medical graduates.
He also urged the new doctors to contribute to addressing Nigeria’s healthcare challenges, including manpower shortages, inadequate infrastructure, rising healthcare costs, preventable diseases and health-worker migration.
The NMA chairman advised the doctors to embrace artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies while retaining the human element of medical practice.
“Nigeria is counting on you—not merely to inherit its healthcare system, but to help transform it,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor of IUO, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, urged the inductees to uphold professional ethics, confidentiality and patient welfare.
“Patients will trust you with their lives. Families will depend on your decisions. Communities will look up to you for hope and healing,” he said.
Ezemonye also stressed the need for teamwork and lifelong learning, noting that effective healthcare delivery requires collaboration among doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and other health professionals.
Delivering the induction lecture, titled “Take A Bow”, Prof. Titus Ibekwe, an Otorhinolaryngologist and Public Health Professional, urged the doctors to approach medicine as a lifelong commitment to service and continuous learning.
Ibekwe used three bows to represent different responsibilities, urging the doctors to “bow back” in gratitude to their parents, teachers and mentors; “bow down” in service to patients and humanity; and “bow forward” towards the professionals they were still becoming.
“The white coat is not a crown. It is closer to a towel,” he said, stressing that leadership in medicine began with service.
Ibekwe also urged the doctors to acknowledge the limits of their knowledge and remain committed to learning.
“Keep learning. Keep listening. Keep kneeling. Keep becoming. The day you stop bowing is the day you begin to decline,” Ibekwe said.
The Provost, College of Health Sciences, IUO, Prof. Dominic Osaghae, urged the inductees to “heal with competence, serve with humility, lead with courage and uphold the honour of the medical profession’.
He also encouraged them to pursue further training, research and professional development.
The Acting Dean, School of Clinical Medicine, Dr Mrs Imesidayo Eboreime-Oikeh, described the title “Doctor” as a public trust requiring sound judgment, accountability and humanity.
She urged the inductees to allow evidence, professional discipline and compassion to guide their practice.
“Character is what remains when there is no audience,” she said.
The ceremony ended with the administration of the Hippocratic Oath and the taking of the bow.
The 65 inductees were also presented with licences and certificates.
The Registrar of the MDCN, Dr Fatima Kyari, was represented at the ceremony by Dr Tijani Alimandaka, Assistant Registrar and Head of Department, Medical Registration.
