Medical education in Nigeria and migration: a mixed-methods study of how the perception of quality influences migration decision making

Eddy Awire,Mamodesan T Okumagba

doi:10.15694/mep.2020.000001.1

Abstract

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Medical education in Nigeria faces numerous challenges and problems; a lack of a coherent admission policy, inadequate funding, poor planning, and erosion of values have led to a general perception of low standards and quality. In the face of these, questions arise as to their influence on medical students' aspirations and intentions to migrate after graduation. This study uses a sequential mixed-method design to examine the extent to which the perceptions of the quality of medical education in Nigeria affect the aspirations and plans of Nigerian medical students to migrate after graduation. 211 final year students (out of a potential 580) participated in a survey; aged between 20 and 45. While the survey showed that the students perceived medical education to be of sufficiently good quality across a spectrum of variables, interview respondents described a dysfunctional medical education that failed to meet their aspirations. The perception of a declining standard in medical training is a major issue for Nigerian medical students and graduates. The inability to halt the decline in the quality of medical training in Nigeria, therefore, leaves many medical students and graduates feeling inadequately trained, and inadvertently feeds their desires and aspirations to migrate abroad after graduation.

Highlights

The Nigerian education system is beset by numerous challenges and problems: a lack of coherent admission policy, resulting in a corrupted admission process (Fatunde, 2009), inadequate funding, poor planning, and erosion of values have led to serious problems in the education sector. Moja (2000) observed that Nigerian institutions operate at a higher capacity than they were originally designed for and argued that this has led to a general perception of low standards and quality of education and that this leads to conditions that encourage brain-drain
The new economics of labour migration (NELM) theory points to failures in the system, like the structural dysfunction in the Nigerian medical education system, as a reason individuals and families engage in international migration; they want to insure their members against such failures (Massey et al, 1993; Hagen-Zanker, 2008)
The perception of a declining standard in medical training is a major issue for Nigerian medical students and graduates, who dream of and aspire to be among the best in their profession

Summary

Introduction

The Nigerian education system is beset by numerous challenges and problems: a lack of coherent admission policy, resulting in a corrupted admission process (Fatunde, 2009), inadequate funding, poor planning, and erosion of values have led to serious problems in the education sector. Moja (2000) observed that Nigerian institutions operate at a higher capacity than they were originally designed for and argued that this has led to a general perception of low standards and quality of education and that this leads to conditions that encourage brain-drain. In the face of these challenges, questions arise as to the influence of the structural failures in the education system on medical students’ aspirations and intentions to migrate after graduation. Medical training institutions in Nigeria are critically important to the effective functioning of the healthcare system and the health of the population: currently, they produce between 2000 and 3500 medical doctors each year (Labiran et al, 2008; Omoluabi, 2014; Daily Trust, 2015). A fault in the production line of these important institutions, especially that which affects the quality of the products – the graduates – will affect the quality of healthcare service delivery and the health of the Nigerian people. The failures of the Nigerian healthcare system can, be partly blamed on the dysfunction in the medical education and training system

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion