Abstract
Abstract Nigeria is a low-middle-income country with poor national health indices, large treatment gaps, and a severe scarcity of general and mental health resources. Low morale of the workforce in the education and health sectors and the associated increasing ‘brain drain’ are ongoing threats to medical education in Nigeria. Data from Nigeria, as from other countries, show elevated levels of psychiatric morbidity, substance use, and burnout among medical students. These problems are commonly associated with stressors such as those due to intense academic work as well as difficulties with finances and accommodation. Using the example of one medical school in Nigeria, we demonstrate that although there are several local initiatives directed at mental health promotion and the prevention and treatment of mental disorders, they are often ad hoc and poorly resourced and coordinated. We advocate for political will and leadership to drive the discourse and the process for improving medical students’ mental health and wellbeing in our medical schools, a national student mental health policy with special attention to medical students, and a university-wide mental health strategy. In addition, we recommend that medical school structures, culture, processes, and procedures are oriented towards campus-wide promotion of mental health and wellbeing. We also recommend an office for students’ wellbeing to lead, organize, and coordinate resources for students’ mental wellbeing. Finally mental health support services should be designed to build capacity of staff and students, promote mental wellbeing, as well as prevent and treat emergent mental disorders.
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