PhD as a Pre-requisite for Clinical Lectureship: Perceptions of Medical and Dental Consultants of a Tertiary University Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND: The new policy introduced by the National Universities Commission (NUC) on PhD being the minimum qualification for clinical lectureship and academic career progression has generated a debate among medical and dental consultants (MDCAN). However, MDCAN could influence the decisions of these key stakeholders with a view to modifying the policy.

METHOD: MDCAN respondents in the study numbered 110. Using a purposive sampling technique, a self-administered semistructured questionnaire was distributed and a cross-sectional analytical study carried out. Data was entered into Microsoft Excel and exported to the SPSS version 20 for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: Majority of the respondents fell within the 45-55 age range (41.8%); most were 5-9 years post-Fellowship; about 21.8% and 1.8% possessed Masters and PhD degrees, respectively. Most (95.5%) knew about the new policy and felt NPMCN should regulate postgraduate medical training (63.6%). Those with Masters were 14 times more likely to support PhD becoming a prerequisite for clinical lectureship (p=0.002). The Masters Degree holders opined that the Fellowship was deficient for clinical lectureship (p=0.001) and that PhD should be obtained in addition to the Fellowship. (p=0.0001). About 46.4% of respondents felt the Fellowship should be modified, and this was unrelated to demographic and career factors. Also, the study shows that most of the respondents (90%) did not consider PhD necessary for clinical lectureship; 76% did not feel that Fellows should acquire PhD in addition to the Fellowship. Fellowship was not considered to be deficient for clinical lectureship by 84.5% of respondents, although 46.4% felt that Fellowship should be modified to include a more robust academic component.

CONCLUSION: Most members decried replacing the Fellowship with PhD as a mandatory requirement for clinical lectureship. They neither thought that a PhD was needed in addition to the Fellowship nor did they feel the Fellowship was deficient. However, half of them felt some modifications to the Fellowship was necessary which will include encouraging those without PhD to acquire one.