This post is contains information on Residency training programme in Nigeria and how to apply for it. If you are a graduate from medical school in the country, applying or enrolling for residency should come to the fore in your mind. It is important to undergo residency training because this enables resident doctors in their chosen medical fields and specialties to carry out their duties of saving lives confidently, independently and without much supervision from more experienced doctors.

Residency training also enables resident doctors to gain more knowledge in the medical profession, in addition to what they have learnt in medical school as well as their internship or housemanship year known as Post Graduate Year 1 (PGY-1); and the training of medical graduates who are resident doctors is mostly done in hospitals, especially teaching hospitalsin the country.

The reason why resident doctors are trained in a hospital environment is because just as the name implies, such doctors will be required to be resident or live inside the hospital premises in order to carry out their duties effectively when called upon, the resident doctor at a medical facility is usually given an apartment in the hospital staff quarters which makes it easy for him/her to discharge their duties promptly in the case of medical emergencies or any health challenges that may occur should the consultant doctor be absent. Residency training in Nigeria takes about four or more years to complete, depending on the doctor’s area of specialization.

The history of medical residency can be traced to the United States of America. Over there, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, a world famous medical facility, of which the world renowned neurosurgeon, Ben Carson made his name, medical residency for doctors was fully established as a pathway for graduate doctors to learn more about their profession so that they would be armed with the necessary knowledge in medical science to work unsupervised.

The world followed suit and Nigeria soon encouraged residency training for her medical graduates, and this has benefited the practice of medicine and surgery in the country. If you are a prospective medical student, kindly click the link to know more about the top 10 universities in Nigeria to study medicine and surgery. This list will help you decide which school to choose when considering where to go in order to study medicine in the country.

RESIDENCY TRAINING IN NIGERIA: WHY YOU NEED IT AS A MEDICAL GRADUATE IN THE COUNTRY

Residency programme is very important as it allows the medical graduate the opportunity to work practically in real hospital situations as opposed to the theoretical side of medical science. The resident doctor gets to work with real patients and he or she will do this while being paired with a team mate. The knowledge gained during the residency programme is invaluable as it will help to improve the understanding of the resident doctors about certain diseases, their causes and treatments.

Another thing residency training does to the trainee is that it exposes them to leadership early enough and this helps them to navigate their way in their dealings with the many people they will come across in the course of their medical career; also allowing them the opportunity to forge a successful career path in the field of medicine. You should understand that residency training programme in Nigeria is different from the NYSC, and this training is strictly for those in the medical profession.

THINGS TO KNOW WHEN CHOOSING A RESIDENCY PROGRAMME

In Nigeria today, choosing a residency programme can be very difficult for medical graduate doctors sometimes. There are certain factors to consider when you want to choose your residency programme and these factors include the following:

• Stability and flexibility of the residency programme
• Your personal career goals
• Cost, patient population and family issues
• Support which you will receive during the entire duration of the programme, etc.

HOW TO APPLY FOR RESIDENCY PROGRAMME IN NIGERIA

Once you have decided on a particular residency programme in the country, having thought carefully about it, what follows is for you to enroll or apply for it by doing everthing listed below:

• Seek advice from the residency director at the hospital you have enrolled at so as to find out the merits and demerits of your chosen career path.
• Get ready your letters of recommendation, personal statement and other supporting documents.
• Look out for adverts from teaching hospitals that are offering the specialty of your choice.
• Visit the website for the teaching hospital’s residency training to apply.

COST OF RESIDENCY TRAINING IN NIGERIA

The cost of residency in Nigeria currently is quite difficult to determine based on fluctuations in the current exchange rates in the country but apart from that, the amount to pay for residency programmes in Nigeria is largely determined by the institution one chooses and the area they want to specialize in. With that in mind, kindly note that the application process costs from about ₦10,000 – ₦15,000 and this is non-refundable.