ArticleBMC medical education2026
The structure of undergraduate psychiatric medical education in Nigerian medical schools.
Article in BMC medical education, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMental disorders represent a major global health burden, yet undergraduate psychiatric training in many low- and middle-income countries remain suboptimal. In Nigeria, misalignment between regulatory frameworks and international best practices has limited the prioritisation of psychiatry in medical education.
aimsTo provide a nationwide overview of undergraduate psychiatric training, structure and assessment methods in Nigerian medical schools.
methodsA cross-sectional survey of accredited Nigerian medical schools was conducted between June and July 2024 using a 28-item questionnaire administered electronically to psychiatric departmental heads or lecturers. Descriptive analysis was performed using STATA 17.0.
resultsOf 48 accredited medical schools, 40 (83.3%) had psychiatric lecturers who could complete the questionnaire, while 39 participated (response rate: 97.5%). Standalone departments of psychiatry were present in 64.1% of schools, although nearly half employed only one to three psychiatrists. Most schools (76.9%) offered no psychiatric teaching in the preclinical years, and 94.9% had no independent assessment of behavioural sciences. During the clinical years, 46.2% provided four weeks of psychiatric clerkship, while only 15.4% met the WHO recommended eight weeks. Emergency and community psychiatric exposure was largely absent. Although 59.0% of schools used OSCE/OSPE for clinical assessment, only 28.2% conducted psychiatry as a standalone examination, and just 17.9% allocated full independent weighting (100%) at the final MBBS level.
conclusionUndergraduate psychiatric training in Nigerian medical schools remains insufficient in scope, duration, and priority, with substantial variability across institutions. Harmonised and enforceable regulatory reforms aligned with international best practices are urgently needed to strengthen psychiatric education and improve mental health competencies of future doctors.
trial registrationThe study was approved by the Institutional Review Committee of the Kwara State University Teaching Hospital with approval protocol number KWASUTH/IRC/246/VOL.II/106.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.