Every year many young school leavers apply to study medical courses at universities across Nigeria. These courses are highly sought after because they offer prestige and financial security after graduation, as well as the prospects of professional success. If you are considering studying a medical course at the university, we’ll discuss 5 of the best medical courses in Nigeria that you can apply for.
The 5 best medical courses in Nigeria would be discussed below:
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Pharmacy
Pharmacy is one of the best medical courses to study in Nigeria because of the prestige associated with the profession as well as the financial security it offers. Pharmacy as a course is concerned with the study of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing, and monitoring medications, to ensure the safe and effective use of medicines. It takes 5 academic years to obtain a degree in Pharmacy from any university in Nigeria, if the mode of admission to study the course was through JAMB.
With a degree in Pharmacy, a pharmacist can practice in a variety of areas. As a pharmacist, you can decide to practice pharmacy (the profession) by owning a pharmacy (or chemist as it’s sometimes referred to in Nigeria) where you retail drugs to members of the public. Aside from private practice, other career opportunities abound as you could be employed to practice pharmacy in a hospital, clinic, pharmaceutical company, psychiatric hospital, regulatory agency, extended care facility, and research facility, among others.
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Medicine and Surgery
Medicine and Surgery is arguably the most sought-after course in universities today, making it among the top 5 medical courses to study in Nigeria. Medicine and Surgery as a course in the university are concerned with the study of the art and science of maintaining and/or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of patients. In Nigeria, it takes 6 academic years to study Medicine and Surgery in a university, after which you’d need to undergo one-year housemanship. After completing the Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) degree and the one-year horsemanship, you’ll have to register with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to be able to practice Medicine in Nigeria and beat the title of ‘Doctor’.
After obtaining your degree and being certified to practice Medicine in Nigeria, you might choose to go into primary health care practice or decide to specialize in any of the fields of Medicine such as Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Surgery, Pathology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Public Health, Neurology, Oncology, and Geriatric Medicine. The potential employer of your services includes State and Federal hospitals, health centres, clinics, multinational companies, and educational institutions, to name a few. Doctors in Nigeria are among the highest-paid professionals nationwide.
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Nursing
Nursing is another medical course that is worthy of a spot on this list. Nursing as a course is concerned with the training of Nursing students to care for individuals, families, and communities, whether sick or well, so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Studying Nursing equips you to be able to assist and care for patients depending on their unique needs. It takes 5 academic years to complete a degree in Nursing at any university in Nigeria.
The demand for nurses in the healthcare environment is very high and nurses make up the largest component of most healthcare environments. This implies that a Nursing degree makes you highly employable. The field of employment for nurses in Nigeria includes hospitals, clinics, laboratories, research facilities, educational institutions and home care.
The specialities and practice settings for nurses include neonatal nursing, paediatrics nursing, women’s health nursing, mental health care nursing, informatics, and adult-gerontology nursing. Upon further education, that is Nursing done at master’s and doctoral levels, you can choose to specialise in cardiac nursing, orthopaedic nursing, palliative care, perioperative nursing, oncology nursing, and obstetrical nursing.
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Medical Laboratory Science
Medical Laboratory Science is one of the most lucrative medical courses to study in Nigeria. The study of Medical Laboratory Science at the university will equip you with the skills required to perform diagnostic testing of blood and body fluids in clinical laboratories. The scope of Medical Laboratory Science as a course in the university will educate you on how to ensure specimen quality, interpret test results, log collated data, test control products, perform calibrations, and perform statistical analysis to verify the accuracy and repeatability of testing.
After graduation, armed with the aforementioned skills, there are several fields of employment where the services of a Medical Laboratory Scientist are needed in Nigeria such as hospitals and laboratories, among others.
The following are the common tests that a Medical Laboratory Scientist performs:
- Complete blood count
- Electrolyte panel
- Liver function test
- Renal function test
- Urinalysis
- Thyroid function test
- Coagulation profile
- Blood type
- Semen analysis
- Lipid profile
- Serological studies
- Routine cultures
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Dentistry
Dentistry is a medical course that is concerned with the study of the teeth, gums, and mouth. During the degree, students of Dentistry are trained on how to study, diagnose, prevent, manage, and treat diseases, disorders and conditions of the mouth, of which tooth decay and periodontal disease are most common. The duration to study this course in a university in Nigeria is 5 academic years.
After completing this course and being registered with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), there are multiple options where you could practice Dentistry as a profession. You could decide to delve into private practice or decide to seek employment in dental hospitals, or institutions such as prisons and the armed forces.
The scope of the practice of Dentistry includes restoration of teeth, extraction of teeth, root planing, and endodontic root canal treatment. Whether you choose to go into private practice or find employment elsewhere, the skillset of a dentist in Nigeria is likely to offer you professional success and financial security.
The courses we’ve discussed above are likely to make you a successful professional in the future if you decide to study any of them since their prospects are bright. However, you’d need to imbibe good study habits and be disciplined if you want to complete the course you eventually settle for as these courses are quite challenging and hard.