The Federal Ministry of Education has issued a clarification regarding reports circulating across traditional and digital media platforms on the approval granted by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to amend the Act governing the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, in a statement signed by the Ministry’s spokesman, explained that the approval granted by FEC enables the College to seek accreditation from the National Universities Commission (NUC) to award Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in relevant medical and research disciplines.
The Minister noted that the development has been widely misinterpreted in some reports as suggesting that a PhD degree would replace or be considered equivalent to Medical Fellowship.
Alausa emphasised that this interpretation is incorrect, while clarifying that Medical Fellowship remains a distinct and higher professional qualification in Clinical practice, awarded to physicians who have successfully completed rigorous residency training and other postgraduate medical education requirements required for specialist practice.
According to the Minister, the decision of the Federal Executive Council simply expands the academic mandate of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College, in addition to its long-standing responsibility of awarding professional fellowships to qualified physicians, the College will now be able—upon accreditation by the National Universities Commission—to offer PhD programmes for candidates who wish to pursue advanced academic research alongside their professional medical training.
The statement added that under the proposed framework, physicians undergoing postgraduate medical training will have the option to integrate a structured doctoral research pathway with their fellowship programmes where appropriate.
(Editor: Ken Eseni)
