2,000 doctors miss housemanship annually due to capacity limit – MDCN

Doctors

The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) says about 2,000 medical doctors produced annually are unable to secure housemanship placements due to capacity limits in the centralised system.

Fatimah Kyari, registrar of the council, spoke in Abuja on Friday while briefing the senate committee on health during the 2026 budget defence session.

Kyari said Nigerian medical schools produce about 6,000 doctors every year, noting that the centralised housemanship system can only absorb 4,000.

“A total of about 6,000 medical doctors are produced annually from the various medical schools, while the centralised housemanship system in operation has a capacity for 4,000 medical doctors,” she said.

She urged the inclusion of state and privately-owned hospitals in the centralised housemanship system to accommodate all graduates each year.

“As a way of accommodating the 6,000 at once yearly, there is a need to include state and privately-owned hospitals in the centralised housemanship system,” Kyari said.

The registrar said expanding the system would help curb brain drain in the health sector.

Kyari also said the council did not receive any release from the N1.2 billion capital vote appropriated to it in the 2025 fiscal year.

According to her, only N37.5 million was released from the N100 million allocated for overheads in the same period. Thecable