MDCN Grants AE-FUNAI First Clinical Accreditation & Increases Medical Students’ Quota

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), the body charged with the responsibility of regulating the practice of Medicine, Dentistry and Alternative Medicine in Nigeria, has granted Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State the approval for First Clinical Accreditation for the Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) Programme of the institution.

The letter addressed to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Sunday Elom dated 11th March, 2024 and signed by the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Dr. Fatima Kyari reads in part: “Following the report of the accreditation visitation team sent to your University on 22nd & 23rd February, 2024, I am to convey provisional approval for your University to be granted First Clinical Accreditation

“I am also to convey provisional approval for the increase in medical students’ quota from fifty (50) to One Hundred (100)”

With the First Clinical Accreditation approval, clinical students of the university can now sit for their 3rd professional medical examination (3rd MB), as the university continue the process that will lead to the graduation of its first set of medical doctors.

Since the commencement of the MBBS programme in AE-FUNAI in the 2017/2018 academic session, the University has maintained a steady progress towards making the programme one of its flagships, and more importantly, ensure that students go through the programme without the hitches often associated with medical education in many public universities in Nigeria.

The programme was first accredited to be run in the university in 2020 by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria after its accreditation team visited the institution on 18th November, 2019. More so, on 27th April, 2021, after another round of accreditation visit, the Council further granted approval for Pre-Clinical Accreditation of the MBBS programme of the University, which ensured that qualified students were moved to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, for clinical training.

The significance of these MBBS accreditations is that the University achieved all of it in the first attempts unlike what is often seen in most public universities, where it takes some institutions up to three or more attempts in each stage. The success achieved by the university in this regard is underscored by the irrevocable commitment of the Vice-Chancellor towards running an outstanding College of Medical Sciences in the University.

While breaking the news, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Elom noted that the First Clinical Accreditation of the MBBS programme was a milestone in the annals of the University, adding that the feat achieved by the institution in just one attempt takes other universities many years to attain.

He also assured of his administration’s unwavering commitment towards the training of medical officers with the necessary nuances, skills and knowledge to make positive impact in the medical profession. He however, urged the students to be serious-minded in their studies, and law-abiding and respectful to constituted authorities in order to fulfil their dreams.

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