If you see a young Nigerian doctor balling, its either the doctor has parental supplementation, is rotating multiple jobs, working with a NGO, doing “Yahoo” or has ventured into other businesses or fields aside medicine.
Doctors are counted amongst the elite but in this country – Nigeria – doctors seem to be beneath the food chain. As a young Doctor, except someone blesses you with a car, the sun is your shining armour.
The mighty professionals and the bright sparks of the health sector have chosen the option of immigration after medical school. This is in search of a better life, where comfort and pleasurable work time is validated with human values. Many have considered the medical residency a waste of time and effort in Nigeria. Gone are the days when people were glad they studied “medicine and surgery” in Nigeria or are happy to be “a consultant” in their subspecialty of medicine.
Why is this?! Let me start from the top; the political leaders, they don’t care!
Sadly, their preference is to go down to the international zones where they feel a standard has been conditioned and as funny as it sounds, its the bright-mind-Nigerians who migrated to those countries of structure that manage their health there.
A paralytic insult from the government. The professional paralysis of senior doctors, antagonizing change secondary to the aggressive need for wealth and fame. This subjugates the vim of creativity for young doctors.
Earlier this year, a bill was passed for young Medical Doctors (Houseofficer) to be henceforth receive a token called minimum wage only as opposed to the actual salaries they were been paid; this is of course after scaling through the hardship of medical school. This bill was mobilized by a doctor in the political seat.
Professional harassments from senior doctors to younger ones for me I have considered the worst of them all. I remember as a medical student, a consultant called a Senior registrar “stupid” because he needed the right definition of “osteomyelitis”. How can you call the father of someone “stupid” in front of medical students, house officers and junior registrar?! He looked at him and said, “You must be stupid”.
“A registrar is resident doctor in training to become a specialist or consultant in their area of residency. A senior registrar has spent at least 4 years in training and passed his/her part 1 fellowship exam while a Junior registrar or resident is yet to write or pass the part 1 fellowship exam.”
Don’t let me get started on how young doctors are underpaid by senior colleagues. While they feel they are doing you a favor, classifying you as a neonate. From my observation, organizations owned by non-medics pay young doctors well, when compared to those owned by a medical practitioners. Professional assault I call it.
The feeling of entitlement, power and traditional demand for dominance plays a major role amidst this professional insubordination.
Medical school alone is a traumatic training, talk more, residency training to becoming a consultant. One of the reasons why I never did my house job in a federal or state teaching hospital. These people want to teach you nobility. But what they are really doing is instilling fear and compulsive respect. I mean, as a house officer in Havana Specialist Hospital, I interacted with consultant directly, the confidence needed for my professionalism was instilled with leisure and not tension. An example is Dr. Okobi, a senior colleague consultant per excellence. I call him my G – a god among men! He could effortlessly carry the sphygmomanometer to check the BP of all his patients without complaining, looking or talking down on anyone.
Respect is earned and not demanded.
About Author:
Dr. Odulaja A. O. is a Medical practitioner, passionate about life itself as an unending adventure with interest in Neurosurgery and photography. He also has fast fingers for writing and plays the guitar for leisure and professionally.
