What is the Salary of Medical Doctors in Nigeria

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Are you looking for the salary of medical doctors in Nigeria?
In this article, you will find out how much medical doctors earn in Nigeria.

The medicine and surgery profession is one of the most respected and highly valued professions in Nigeria. It is also one of the best professions you can study to make money from in Nigerian universities.

Before taking a look at the salary of a medical doctor in Nigeria, you should know who a medical doctor is, how to become a medical doctor in Nigeria and their roles in the Nigerian healthcare sector.

Who is a medical doctor?

A medical doctor or a physician is a trained and certified health professional who practices medicine with the aim of promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments.

Medical doctors may focus their practice on certain disease categories, types of patients, and methods of treatment ( which is known as specialities) or they may assume responsibility for the provision of continuing and comprehensive medical care to individuals, families, and communities (which is known as general practice).

Now let us take a look at the roles of medical doctors in Nigeria.

What are the roles of medical doctors in Nigeria?

Below are some of the roles of medical doctors in Nigeria:

Extend primary care and chronic care
Offer emergency or triage care
Classify and reply to emergency situations and offer professional care
Offer excellent patient care
Responding to patients’ medical problems by referring to their history, carrying out diagnosis, treatment, counseling, and referral, where necessary
Assist Project Manager to decide intervention priorities
Enter into medical policy of Emergency Response Team
Handle staff management
Promote social workers in work in difficult and remote environment
Contact local authorities in every location before starting with technical work
Ensure accurate supply records in medical interventions
Protect patients’ rights, safety and welfare
Use resources efficiently for the benefit of patients and the public
Ordering lab tests and interpreting the test results.
Maintaining confidentiality and impartiality at all times.
Collecting, recording, and maintaining sensitive patient information such as examination results, medical history, and reports.
Performing minor surgeries.
Explaining procedures or prescribed treatments to patients.
Liaising with medical professionals in the community and hospitals.
Promoting health education in conjunction with other health professionals.
Meeting targets set by the government for specified treatments, e.g. child immunization.
Discussing and evaluating new pharmaceutical products with pharmaceutical representatives.
Keeping up-to-date with medical developments, treatment, and medication.
Teaching at hospitals and medical schools, and observing and assessing the work of trainee doctors and medical students.

Now that you have known some of the roles of a medical doctor, you should know how to become a medical doctor in Nigeria.

How to become a medical doctor in Nigeria?

To become a medical doctor in Nigeria, you have to apply for and gain admission to a recognised Nigerian institution. Once you have pass your final exam, you will be inducted into the medical profession. After graduation, you will be required to go for one year internship which is known as housemanship (where you will become a house officer), afterwards, you will be required to go for NYSC.

Also check out: The different career opportunities in Medicine

These will be explained further in this article.

What is the duration to study medicine in Nigeria?

The duration to study medicine in Nigeria is 6years. After 6years in the university, you will be required to do one year housemanship/internship. You can check out the best universities to study medicine in Nigeria.

Now let us look at the salary of medical doctors in Nigeria.

What is the salary of medical doctors in Nigeria?

The salary of medical doctors in Nigeria is N180,000 per month. The salary of medical doctors in Nigeria is regulated by two bodies which are:

Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) which is for hospitals and
Consolidated University Academic structure (CONAUSS) for medical Doctors in the academic sector.

Let us now take a quick look at how much Nigerian medical doctors earn after completing their medical school.

Housemanship Salary in Nigeria

Once you have graduated from medical school, you are required to go for a mandatory one year housemanship. Medical doctors doing housemanships are known as House Officers (HO). This is a compulsory one-year service where newly inducted medical doctors have the opportunity to work on a professional level with other medical doctors.

How much do hospitals pay House officers?

On the average, the salary of house officers is between N120,000 to N170,000 depending on the hospital. House officers working in a Federal hospital or teaching hospital usually earn more than those in the State hospital. Due to the competition for a house job slot, some hospitals conduct paper test for prospective medical doctors so they can streamline the number of candidates while some hospitals require leg work to get a job offer.

NYSC Doctors Salary in Nigeria

Medical doctors are expected to go for the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme after their house job. Here, medical doctors are posted to state hospitals or federal hospitals within the state they are deployed. Just like during house job, the stipend medical doctors receive vary heavily and depends on some factors including the location, the state and whether the hospital is Federal, State-owned or private.

On average, hospitals pay medical doctors between N50,000 to N130,000 during NYSC. Some others even work or free, settling for just Federal Government monthly allowance of N30,000.

Medical Doctors Salaries in Nigeria

Post-NYSC doctors are also known as medical officers or medical doctors. Once you have completed your NYSC, you can be called a medical doctor. The salary for medical Doctors after NYSC varies. Although, they are regulated by CONMESS and CONAUSS, there is still a considerable difference between salaries of Doctors in Government hospitals and those in private clinics. The salary also varies depending on level of experience and qualification.

The salary of medical doctors in Nigeria is between N180,000 to N250,000, depending on whether they are employed by the Federal government or state government. This salary is the same for post-NYSC doctors who are employed as medical officers or those who are just starting their residency programme (registrars).

Generally, a resident doctor earns between N150,000 to N210,000. A Registrar earns around N200,000 to N280,000, a senior Registrar earns around N270,000 to N400,000, while a Consultant earns between N450,000 to N700,000. A senior consultant earns higher.

Salaries of Medical Doctors in Government Hospitals/Teaching Hospitals

Medical officers: N180,000 to N600,000 (or even more, but depends on grade level)
Resident Doctors: N220,000 to N270,000 (registrars)
Resident Doctors: N260,000 to N350,000 (senior registrars)
Consultants: N450,000 to N650,000 (for fresh consultants. Senior consultants earn more)

Salaries of Medical Doctors in Private Hospitals

Medical Officers: N90,000 to N150,000
Resident Doctors: N120,000 to N250,000
Consultants: N400,000 to N600,000

Now that you have known the salary of medical doctors in Nigeria, let us take a look at the factors that determine the salary of medical doctors in Nigeria

Factors that determine the salary of Medical doctors in Nigeria

Just like every other profession, a whole lot of factors come into play when determining the salary of Medical doctors in Nigeria. What this means is that, there is no actual amount of money that is a doctor’s salary in the country. It all depends on the place the doctor is working, the medical doctor’s level of experience, area of specialization etc. All these will be discussed below as we continue:

Place of work: Apparently government owned hospitals usually pay better than private hospitals. Thus, doctor’s working in a federal or state owned hospital is likely going to earn higher than those working in the private sector.

But as you may also know, some big private hospitals pay very well too. For example, doctors working at Lagoon Hospital, Reddington Hospital, Eko Hospital, Nicholas Hospital and other big hospitals in the country are going to be earn very big too.

Level of experience of the doctor: Experience is always a determining factor when you talk about the salary of any profession and doctors are not exceptional. In fact, the more experienced you are as a doctor will determine how employable you will be especially in big private hospitals. This kind of hospitals is always looking for the big of all the doctors in the country. And one of the way they get that is by knowing how experienced their employees are.

Area of specialization: No doubt, some areas in the medical field pay better than others. This is the same in almost every profession too. Neurosurgeon has been confirmed to be the highest paying medical field in Nigeria and other parts of the world today. It pays very well and it takes time for one to complete his/her education in the field too.

It is improper to compare the salary of a Neurosurgeon and a Orthodontist in Nigeria. Even though they are both doctors, the former is going to be paid higher. So you see, area of specialization is a key factor too.

There are other factors that determine the salary of a Medical doctor in Nigeria but what I have discussed above are the major factors.

Now that you have known who a medical doctor is, how to become a medical doctor, the roles as well as the salary of medical doctors in Nigeria, feel free to also check out: