What is the award all about?
It is a prestigious national honour given annually to a member of the college who has contributed to the field of preventive medicine and shows potential for future contributions to the profession. The award was mainly in recognition of our HIV/AIDS work in Nigeria.
My employer Vanderbilt University has supported HIV/AIDS services in Nigeria with funding from the US government through our non-governmental organization Friends in Global Health for five years. We have provided free HIV testing, medications, and prevention services to thousands of Nigerians who have had the misfortune of being diagnosed with the disease. We have also prevented thousands of infections in babies born to HIV-positive mothers.
Where did you go to school?
I went to school in Nigeria, graduated from ABU Zaria medical school in 1993 and did my residency training in community medicine in Kano and Jos before leaving for the US. I have been working as a professor, physician and researcher at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (one of our top-ranked US institutions) since 2009.
How would you describe practicing in the US?
It is a busy life, just like medical practice everywhere else in the world. The awareness of health issues among patients is much higher here so you have to stay abreast of developments in your specialty. And of course the liability risk is much higher here –if you mismanage a clinical case you will pay dearly for it.
Do you have association of Nigerian medical practitioners there?
Yes, there are several professional medical associations here. The most prominent is ANPA (the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas). In Tennessee we have our own small chapter that meets a couple of times a year.
Can you quantify the number of Nigerian doctors and nurses in the US?
I am not sure of the statistics regarding nurses but for physicians it depends on whether you are looking at licensed practicing Nigerian physicians or any Nigerian who has a medical degree even if not licensed to work here in the US. And of course you have Nigerians who migrated to the US after already graduating as doctors in Nigeria and the Nigerians who attended medical school here in the US and graduated as doctors.
I have seen an estimate of 25,000 Nigerian physicians in the US but I think that is a serious underestimate. Last year one of our PhD students published a paper that surveyed physicians trained or born in sub-Saharan Africa and licensed to practice in the U.S. – his numbers suggest that we have approximately 11,800 physicians who were born in sub-Saharan Africa and practicing as fully registered physicians in the US as at 2011. About half of this numbers are Nigerians.
Why do you think Nigerian doctors and nurses are running abroad?
I would not describe Nigerian doctors and nurses as “running” abroad. I believe that professionals will always move to destinations that offer them opportunities to advance in their careers. In the case of the health professions we have pull and push factors – examples of pull factors are better remuneration, security of life and property, better educational opportunities for your children, job satisfaction, availability of equipment and supporting infrastructure, etc, whereas the push factors would be the opposite (low pay, insecurity, low job satisfaction, lack of advancement, etc).
Regardless of the reasons people have moved from place to place since the beginning of eternity and that will always continue to be the case. But the only thing that is constant in life is change – if Nigeria’s situation improves we will likely see people streaming in, as was the case in the 70’s when our economy was booming.
I have colleagues who have transitioned back to Nigeria or are planning to relocate in the near future. What is important is we all contribute to building a system that will meet the needs of its citizenry and stand the test of time.
With your experience there, why do you think Nigerians prefer to seek medication abroad than in Nigeria?
For obvious reasons – the quality of the health care system is superior here in the US. It is not just the quality of personnel and facilities but also the reliability of diagnostic testing and the checks and balances within the system that minimize the likelihood of errors occurring. No matter how good you are as a doctor you need certain essential prerequisites for you to have good outcomes for your patients – good laboratory and radiology diagnostic support, good nursing care for your patients, effective medications, and a clean environment. Unfortunately a lot of that is missing in Nigeria.
How would you compare medical training in the US with what is obtainable here in Nigeria universities?
I think our medical schools are still very good – a lot of graduates from Nigerian schools excel when they move abroad. We do need to modernize the system though. I know there are moves toward doing that.
In what area did you specialize?
I am a preventive medicine physician – my clinical specialty is occupational medicine (a branch of preventive medicine). I mostly see patients with work-related diseases and injuries. As an epidemiologist I also do a lot of public health research.
Looking at the rate of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, what do you think can be done?
The HIV/AIDS situation in Nigeria is improving –with increased awareness and adoption of preventive measures we have seen significant declines in HIV prevalence over the past five years. However, the ‘gorilla in the room’ remains mother-to-child transmission of HIV, where Nigeria has the dubious reputation of leading the world.
More HIV-exposed infants are born every year in Nigeria than in any other country in the world. Prof. Idoko and his team at NACA with the support of international agencies (especially the U.S. government’s PEPFAR programme) are working hard at addressing this issue.
Do medical doctors in the us go on strike as obtainable in Nigeria?
No. Most doctors here work for private institutions or have their own practice. We have the American Medical Association and other specialty professional associations, but they do not function as a trade union.
How do they resolve industrial dispute there?
Industrial unionism does not exist in the health system here. If you have a dispute with your employer then you work as an individual with your supervisor to resolve it, or you quit (or are terminated). Your contract to work is between you as an individual and your employer, so you cannot involve someone else.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
