Medical graduates in Nigeria are required to undergo a one-year mandatory housemanship to further acquaint themselves with the practical knowledge in the medical profession before undertaking their national youth service. During this period, house officers working under federal government-owned institutions are paid salaries by the federal government through the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN); while those working with state-owned licensed institutions for their house job are paid by the state government.
Following our induction as medical doctors (about 22 of us, all from Gombe State University and posted to Specialist Hospital Gombe) in July 2021, the Gombe state government through the commissioner for Health announced in the glare of public that the state had integrated us into the state civil service and we would be thenceforth on doctors’ salary scale. This development was appreciated and lauded by all of us, and we all kept fingers crossed that we would start receiving our salaries when the month went by. Alas! That merely became – if you would permit the expression – a pipe dream, as months dragged by without receiving a dime as salary.
Five months after employment and into the internship programme, what we receive is still the penurious medical students’ allowance of N33,000. As most of us are married – and some with children; the allowance doesn’t sustain us for two weeks, especially taking into cognizance the soaring prices of food and other items in the country. As such, we couldn’t (and still can’t) resist jolting and vacillating between the options of getting trapped in debt or allowing ourselves to wallow in the depressing mud of poverty and hunger. But the knowledge of the British naturalist Charles Darwin’s and Herbert Spencer’s memorable phrase wouldn’t allow one to opt for the latter (option).
With the rising cost of living in the country, expectations from family and friends who, by virtue of our being house officers, would create the impression that we are better off and above all, the hectic nature of working as a house officer, always at the frontline of medical service, spending 32 hours on duty at least once every week; we say – albeit with a dismal tone – that we are really being hit hard by the non-payment of our salary. As professionals who provide healthcare services to people, the condition of service of doctors should always be that which meets their expectation. Serving and saving humanity is never easy; it is a daunting task that requires its doer to employ all meticulousity, perspicacity and wit in discharging it. While cogitating on this work or that work, one might unconsciously be swept with the realisation of one’s pressing needs yet to be attended to.
While we sincerely recognise and appreciate the effort of the state government especially by providing us with befitting accommodation to stay during our housemenship, we felt under the obligation to appeal to the government to come to our aid by paying our salaries. Paying our salaries will not only help us settle our debts but will go a long way in stabilising us as we would no longer go to work thinking about the next meal or trying to suppress a hunger-induced yawn.
Being the pioneer house officers at the Specialist Hospital, the kind of treatment we receive from the government is what will encourage or discourage others from doing their house job in the state. For the record, some of our colleagues whom we were employed together as house officers have already left the state for greener places where their salaries are promptly paid.
But we unanimously reckon that serving in the state is very important as it will help in bridging, to some appreciable state, the doctor-patient ratio, and so we still remain with the Specialist Hospital to help improve healthcare delivery in the state.
We honestly deserve better treatment, please!
House Officers, State Specialist Hospital, Write from Gombe, Gombe State