UNIJOS Dental Students Risks Not Graduating Amid Accreditation Crisis

Students from the Faculty of Dental Sciences at the University of Jos (UNIJOS) have voiced their concerns over the non-accreditation of their course by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), shedding light on years of uncertainty and academic setbacks.

The faculty, which reportedly comprises seven sets of students, is facing an uncertain future. The first set of students, who were expected to graduate alongside their colleagues in the MBBS programme in less than two months, are now unsure of their graduation date due to the accreditation issue.

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A third-set student (in their fifth year) disclosed, “The course has not been accredited by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) due to a lack of proper structure in terms of staff and dental clinical equipment.” He further revealed that the students are the ones bearing the brunt of this situation. 

Another student, currently in his fourth year, shared that his set only became aware of the accreditation status in 2023 when they transitioned into the clinical stage of medical school at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital. He said, “When we were on the University of Jos main campus, we had no idea what was going on in the teaching hospital. All we knew was that we were taking the same courses with our colleagues from MBBS. There were some extra courses we needed to take in our second and third years, but we never took them and never knew we had to.”

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He added, “Our first set was supposed to take some courses meant for only students of dental science; at the same time our MBBS colleagues were taking obstetrics and gynaecology, but they were told to go home. After a while, they were asked to resume. When they did, they took some courses. They have been off and on since then. Now, they don’t even know when they will graduate.”

In response to this situation, students from the Department of Dentistry staged a protest at the University of Jos Teaching Hospital. They appealed to the university’s vice chancellor, expressing their desire for their faculty to be merged with MBBS, as they had been taking the same courses for years and only had a few additional courses.

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Following the protest, it was revealed that the MBBS programme had also lost its accreditation, but efforts were being made to regain it. A student expressed his dismay, saying, “What if we get accredited and we’re given an abysmally low quota? There are nine students in the first set, 17 in the second set, over 40 in the third, and we are 50 in my set. If we get accreditation, it will take divine grace and intervention for us to get even a quota of 15. This means that not everyone will be inducted at the same time. Some will have to wait till the following year or beyond.”

Another student noted, “Not all of us are emotionally strong. A lot of us are depressed. Those in our first set do not know when they will graduate. It is a huge setback for us. We are still paying school fees and studying. We can’t even study well because we have no idea when we will graduate.”