Alternative medicine students seek standard five-year bachelor’s degree
By Boye Oyeyemi
The Nigerian Complementary and Alternative Medicine Students’ Association has urged the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to regulate the training and practice of complementary and alternative medicine in the country.
The association’s President, Ayuba Yusuf, made the call in Akure, Ondo State, on Monday, after submitting its position paper on the proposed regulatory framework to the MDCN.
Yusuf said regulation was necessary to standardise university-based alternative medicine education, clinical training, professional registration and practice across the country.
He said the association’s primary concern was to ensure that students graduated with adequate education, clinical competence and ethical standards required for safe professional practice.
To achieve this, Yusuf urged the MDCN to collaborate with the National Universities Commission on accreditation, curriculum review, periodic inspection and quality assurance for universities offering complementary and alternative medicine programmes.
He also proposed that Bachelor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine become the standard professional degree nomenclature and that the current four-year programme be extended to at least five years to strengthen clinical training and improve patient safety.
Furthermore, Yusuf called for mandatory supervised internship or housemanship for graduates at approved centres, including teaching hospitals, Federal Medical Centres, specialist hospitals and accredited complementary and alternative medicine clinics.
He also advocated a clear registration and licensing system covering provisional registration, internship, full registration, annual practising licence renewal and continuing professional development, urging the MDCN to develop an implementation roadmap with the NUC, universities, health institutions, professional bodies and other stakeholders.
