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The National Universities Commission, NUC, has declared that students pursuing pharmacy, physiotherapy, and optometry degrees in universities will now require six years to graduate instead of the current five years.
The commission further stated that graduates would no longer receive Bachelor’s degrees but would instead be awarded Doctor of Pharmacy, Pharm D, Doctor of Physiotherapy, DPT, and Doctor of Optometry, O.D., respectively.
This update was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday, January 22, by Franca Chukwuonwo, the NUC’s acting Director of Public Affairs.
The NUC explained that additional courses have been incorporated into these programmes to meet international standards.
“The National Universities Commission, cognizant of the need to keep abreast with global perspectives on programmes and course delivery in the university education space, had carried out some nomenclature change and upgraded programmes from Bachelors Degree to Doctor (Bachelors Degree with clinical sessions) status in Nigerian universities,” it stated.
“This quest to upgrade the status of some medical-related programmes from Bachelor’s degree to doctorate (bachelor’s degree with clinical sessions) was borne out of the desire to incorporate more clinical/practical sessions, provide sufficient coverage of foundation courses, improve clinical skills and cover all specialty areas.
“The trend seeks to also align with global best practices applicable in the training of professionals in these medical-related programmes. Furthermore, the certificates obtained from the Nigerian university system can be on par with those obtained in similar programmes from other climes. This will ensure the requisite harmonisation, mutuality and global competitiveness of Nigerian graduates in terms of certificate evaluation, employability and further studies in the relevant disciplines.
“Below is the list of the programmes upgraded from Bachelors degree to Doctor status, which are found in NUC’s Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards and Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards :
“Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D); Doctor of Physiotherapy (DPT); and Optometry (O.D. Doctor of Optometry).
“Consequently, the duration of the above programmes was increased from five to six years to accommodate the additional courses and clinicals incorporated into the curriculum.”
The NUC also cautioned prospective students against enrolling in the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science, DMLS, programme at any university in the country, stating that the programme has not received approval.
The commission stressed that the DMLS programme is not included in its Benchmark Minimum Academic Standards or Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards.
“The general public and all stakeholders are hereby informed that the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science programme does not exist in the NUC’s BMAS or CCMAS and thus has not been captured as an upgraded programme.
“Consequently, MLSD has not approved programme in the offerings of any Nigerian university,” it stated.
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