No fewer than 72,000 medical doctors must have left the shore of the country in pursuit of greener pastures abroad as records show they jettisoned the renewal of their annual practice licence.
According to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), only 58,000 out of 130,000 doctors registered to practice in Nigeria in 2023.
The Deputy Registrar of MDCN, Dr Victor Kolawole, disclosed this at the Induction/Oath Taking Ceremony of the 2022/2023 Batch B Medicine and Surgery graduates of the Edo State University, Uzairue, on Friday.
Kolawole said “since inception in 1963, we presently have over 130,000 registered doctors in Nigeria.
“However, as you know because of the increase in migration of doctors out of the country, we have about 58,000 doctors who renewed their annual practice licence in 2023 and they are those that are fit to practice in Nigeria.”
He frowned at the current syndrome of doctors going abroad for greener pastures and appealed to the newly medical graduates to stay back and practice their profession in the country
