- Alausa said reports claiming the government equated medical fellowships with PhD degrees are incorrect.
- The FEC only approved that the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College can seek approval to award PhD degrees.
- Medical fellowships remain a separate and higher professional qualification for specialist clinical practice.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has dismissed reports suggesting that the Federal Government has approved medical fellowships as equivalent to Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees, describing the claim as an “incorrect misrepresentation” of a recent decision by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
EKO HOT BLOG reports that, in a statement issued on Thursday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, the ministry said the decision taken by the council on Wednesday had been widely misunderstood in some sections of the media.
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According to the statement, the approval granted by the council under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu only allows the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College to seek accreditation from the National Universities Commission to award PhD degrees in relevant medical and research disciplines.
Alausa said the move was intended to expand the academic mandate of the college and did not change the status of medical fellowship qualifications.
“The approval granted by FEC under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu enables the college to seek accreditation from the National Universities Commission to award Doctor of Philosophy degrees in relevant medical and research disciplines,” the minister said.
He stressed that reports suggesting that a PhD degree would replace or be considered equivalent to a medical fellowship were inaccurate.
“The development has been widely misinterpreted in some reports as suggesting that a PhD degree would replace or be considered equivalent to a medical fellowship. This interpretation is incorrect,” he said.
Alausa explained that a medical fellowship remains a separate and higher professional qualification required for specialist clinical practice. He noted that fellowships are awarded to physicians who complete rigorous residency training and other postgraduate medical education requirements.
According to him, the decision by the council simply broadens the role of the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College by allowing it to run doctoral research programmes, once it secures accreditation from the National Universities Commission (NUC), in addition to its existing mandate of awarding fellowships to qualified physicians.
Alausa added that under the proposed framework, doctors undergoing postgraduate medical training may have the option of combining their fellowship programmes with a structured doctoral research pathway.
The minister said the clarification became necessary following widespread reports that suggested the government had approved medical fellowships as equivalent to PhD degrees.
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He reiterated that the council’s decision was aimed at strengthening medical education and research capacity while maintaining the distinction between professional clinical qualifications and academic doctoral degrees.
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