President Tinubu recently approved the upward review of retirement age for doctors and health workers in Nigeria from 60 to 65, a move that has been welcomed by the Nigerian health community.
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has championed this move to address brain drain, improve knowledge transfer and for quality healthcare delivery.
However, there are pros and cons to every decision.
Pros of 65 years retirement age for Doctors
Historically, Nigerian doctors get into medical school between ages 18 and 21 because they have to obtain a higher than average JAMB score and a befitting WAEC grade. On average they spend 6 years in medical school, that is if they do not have issues like ASUU strike, re-sits, repeats or outright withdrawal. It is therefore not uncommon for most medicos to spend about 8 -10 years in school.
After this is the compulsory internship (housemanship) year, and then the sometimes compulsory NYSC. By the time a Nigerian doctor is getting his footing in life he is already about 30 years old. By this time, his classmates in primary and secondary school who didn’t study medicine are in executive positions in companies with 1 or 2 kids in tow.
It is not yet uhuru for the doctor as he or she has to struggle for another 5 years to do a residency which by the way is not immediate. You may face systemic challenges like passing entry exams, nepotism, bureaucracy etc and some personal ones like marriage, pregnancy and child care. These may set you back a few years. When you become a specialist (consultant) you may already be in your 40s. This is considered the peak of your medical career.
However, time flies in medicine and before you know it, boom you’re 60 and have to retire. You now wonder what you will do with all the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired and barely utilised. This is why the age extension is welcome.
Furthermore, there is enough time to transfer knowledge and mentor juniors, this will increase efficiency in the health sector.
The patients also benefit as their trusted doctors are around for much longer.
CONS of 65 years retirement age
What time does a doctor have to rest? For people that have spent most of their lives, weekends and public holidays inclusive within the 4 walls of a hospital, there should be rest. What remaining time they have to live should not be spent doing what they’ve been doing all their lives at the expense of family time, rest and holidays.
Many doctors have been known to die untimely deaths due to the stress of work. Statistics show a higher risk of suicide among physicians compared to other occupations. Extending retirement to 65 will rob doctors of benefits such as family time, social club activities, travel etc. It may also rob them the opportunity to be celebrated while alive.
One also has to think of the increased risk of burnout and medical errors as age progresses. A surgeon can’t be expected to be as precise, physicians may become more forgetful etc.
Keeping older doctors will limit having fresh and up to date perspectives on medical care that newer doctors possess.
Patients may receive the shorter end of the stick. The older doctors may not provide the same level of care and have other distractions. It may also cost more to keep these older doctors on the payroll.
Finally, they will create a bottle neck preventing younger doctors from filling choice positions.
What are your thoughts on this?