The Chancellor, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Aare Afe Babalola, has advised medical doctors against complacency and negligence in the course of their duties.
Babalola, who advised doctors “to shun all acts associated with laziness, redundancy and complacency”, said they should instead continue to learn and stay abreast of developments in the medical field and their application in treating patients.
The ABUAD chancellor, according to a statement from the university made available on Saturday, spoke in Ado Ekiti during the induction and oath-taking ceremony for the institution’s eighth set of Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery graduands by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria.
He told the newly inducted doctors, “You must continue to read and work hard. This your first degree must not be the last; continue to read more. You have received the best education from the best institution around. You must keep reading and learning. All of these are part of my hidden secrets to you; you can never buy them in any open market.
“As medical practitioners, you must be accommodating. Don’t count anybody unimportant in your line of service. Besides, you must be loving. You must be caring, and you must be well-dressed at all times. Above all, you must regard everybody, especially patients, and give them hope for life,” he said.
Babalola hailed students and products of the university for making a difference, saying, “No graduate of ABUAD has ever graduated without proving his or her mettle anywhere they find themselves, both within and outside the country.
“You must continue to use all the knowledge gained from this university by being different at all times. Imbibe the spirit of all the things that you have learned,” the nonagenarian said, adding that at his age he still worked and read for many hours a day.
ABUAD Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, advised the new medical doctors to remember the chancellor’s counsel that “you must be kind to your patients. You must love them, share in their pains and provide them comfort. Let them feel that they can still make it. Give them hope.”
Olarinde said, “Today is undeniably historic because 26 of our inductees collectively earned 64 distinctions, a remarkable achievement that attests to the culture of excellence defining our institution.
“With this induction, ABUAD is steadily contributing to the pool of enviable medical doctors trained, equipped and confident to transform the healthcare ecosystem in Nigeria and beyond.”
She said that since the commencement of the medical programme in 2011, the university had “maintained uninterrupted academic sessions while forging strategic partnerships with world-class institutions, including Johns Hopkins Hospital, USA; Marengo Asia Hospitals; and Cherami Investment Group.”
The Acting Provost, ABUAD College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr Louis Odeigah, also counselled the newly inducted doctors against negligence.
Odeigah, who said that social media was awash with issues of medical negligence in Nigeria, charged the inductees: “You must run as fast as you can from medical negligence. Your training has equipped you with what it takes to avoid medical negligence — effective communication, good bedside manners, ethical practice, empathy and a culture of accurate documentation.”
The guest lecturer at the occasion, a Professor of Medicine at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, Prof Basil Okeahialam, counselled the newly inducted doctors “to have a high sense of responsibility, not giving room to accusations of negligence.”
Okeahialam said, “Negligence is considered when a doctor manifests gross lack of competence, inaction or wanton indifference to a patient’s safety. For you as young practitioners, always escalate difficult situations in time for remedial action, and never forget to be pragmatic.
“Always show compassion and empathy. This may be what will make the difference between relations thanking you for the little you have done or coming at you aggressively.”
He advised the doctors, “Your courage should be dignified. Your appearance matters. Your attire gives the first impression in any doctor-patient relationship.
“The familiar white coat provides patients with an impression of cleanliness and high expectations of care and professionalism.”
