The qualifying examination was held at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital between November 22 and 23,2023.

The assessment for the foreign-trained medical graduates was in a Computer Based Test format with the graduates taking the examination in four different centres, namely:  BMG Institute of Information Technology; JAMB Professional Test Centre; Kano Cooperative CBT Centre and Treztech, all in Kano State.

The examination comprises a computer-based test, a picture-based test, and an objective structural clinical examination.

Findings showed that most of the medical and dental graduates performed poorly in the CBT.

In the list of shortlisted candidates obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, it was noted that a total of 836 candidates with medical degrees from foreign universities were shortlisted for the examination at the first instance.

The result of the examination, which was also obtained by our correspondent on Monday, revealed that only 403 passed.

every year, thousands of Nigerians aspiring to become medical doctors and dentists enrol in foreign universities, spend a fortune on tuition and accommodation fees, and dedicate between four and seven years to pursuing the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course.

Among the favourite destinations for Nigerians studying medicine are Ukraine, Sudan, Cyprus, Egypt, The Caribbean, Russia, Belarus, India, Hungary, Guyana, Niger Republic, and Benin Republic. But on completion of their studies abroad, to get a licence to practise in Nigeria, they are required to pass the MDCN assessment.

The MDCN is the body that regulates the practice of Medicine, Dentistry, and Alternative Medicine in the country to safeguard the nation’s health care system.

The MDCN conducts the assessment twice a year. The examination tests the candidates’ ability to apply their basic medical sciences and clinical skills in a health care setting. the MDCN Registrar, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, said the assessment examination was a global practice.

The two-day assessment examination was conducted on November 23 and November 24, 2022, at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto.

The council’s Registrar, Dr Tijani Sanusi, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

Sanusi said 916 foreign-trained medical and dental candidates sat for the assessment examination but only 477 candidates passed

“24 candidates sat for the examination in Dentistry, eight passed and 16 failed. 892 candidates sat for the medical examination, 469 passed and 423 failed,” he explained.

Describing the assessment examination as a global practice, Sanusi said no professional is allowed to practise in another jurisdiction without sitting for the examination.

He explained, “It is a global practice that if you train in a particular jurisdiction and you want to go to another jurisdiction, you subject yourself to an assessment examination.

“Even if you are a Professor of Medicine here and you have never practised in the United Kingdom or the United States, when you go in there, you subject yourself to their assessment examination.”

The MDCN assessment examination is compulsory for all foreign-trained doctors who plan to practise in Nigeria.

The MDCN regulates the practice of Medicine, Dentistry and Alternative Medicine in the country in the most efficient manner that safeguards the best healthcare delivery.

The assessment examination is meant for foreign-trained medical doctors and dental surgeons who want to practise in Nigeria and it tests the candidates’ ability to apply their basic medical sciences and clinical skills in a healthcare setting.

The examination is to ensure that foreign-trained doctors show themselves capable of practising in Nigeria.

On passing the examination, they are given a provisional licence to practise in Nigeria.

It is this provisional licence medical and dental graduates will use to practise during their one-year housemanship after which they are given a licence of full registration.