On Wednesday, the National Universities Commission(NUC) announced that it has upgraded some medical-related programmes in Nigerian universities from Bachelor’s degree to doctoral status. It was stated that students studying pharmacy, physiotherapy and optometry in the university will now spend six years instead of the current five years to graduate.

By this development, students will now be awarded  Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D); Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT) and Optometry (O.D. Doctor of Optometry), respectively instead of the usual Bachelor’s degree.

This information was contained in a statement signed by NUC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs, Mrs. Franca Elochi Chukwuonwo.

The Bigger Picture

According to the commission, more courses had been added to the three programmes to align with international standards. As part of the changes, the duration of the affected programmes has been extended from five to six years to accommodate additional courses and clinical training. The statement, titled ‘Clarification on Nomenclature Change and Upgraded Programmes from Bachelor’s Degree to Doctor Status in Nigerian Universities,’ x-rayed that the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science (DMLS) programme is not approved in any university in the country.

The NUC Statement in Full

“The National Universities Commission, cognizant of the need to keep abreast with global perspectives on programmes and course delivery in the university education space, had carried out some nomenclature change and upgraded Programmes from Bachelors Degree to Doctor (Bachelors Degree with clinical sessions) Status in Nigerian Universities.

This quest to upgrade the status of some medical-related programmes from Bachelors Degree to Doctor (Bachelors Degree with clinical sessions) was borne out of the desire to incorporate more clinical/ practical sessions, provide sufficient coverage of foundation courses, improve on clinical skills and cover all specialty areas.

The trend seeks to also align with global best practices applicable in the training of professionals in these medical related programmes. Furthermore, the certificates obtained from the Nigerian University System can be at par with those obtained in similar programmes from other climes. This will ensure the requisite harmonisation, mutuality and global competitiveness of Nigerian graduates in terms of Certificates evaluation, employability and further studies in the relevant disciplines.

Programmes with Upgraded Status:

Below is the list of the programmes upgraded from Bachelors Degree to Doctor Status Bachelors Degree with clinical sessions), which are found in NUC’s Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards (BMAS) and Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS):

Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D)

Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT)
Optometry (O.D Doctor of Optometry).

Duration of the Programme:

Consequently, the duration of the above programmes was increased from five to six years to accommodate the additional courses and clinicals incorporated into the curriculum.

Conclusion:

The general public and all stakeholders are hereby informed that the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science (DMLS) programme does not exist in the NUC’s BMAS or CCMAS and thus has not been captured as an upgraded programme.

Consequently, MLSD is not an approved progamme in the offerings of any Nigerian university. “