MDCN Exam key terms

The statutory body established by law that regulates the training, registration, licensing, and discipline of medical and dental practitioners in Nigeria, acting through committees and a registrar.

The principal Nigerian legislation that creates MDCN, defines registrable qualifications, establishes the disciplinary tribunal, and sets out offences and penalties for unregistered practice.

The chief executive and administrative officer of the Council who maintains the registers, issues licences and certificates, and implements Council decisions under the Act.

Registration status granted to a practitioner who has completed an approved medical or dental degree plus housemanship and satisfies the Council, permitting independent practice in Nigeria.

Limited registration given to a graduate who has not completed internship, allowing supervised practice only in an approved house-officer post for a defined period.

A yearly permit, renewable on evidence of a valid registration and compliance with CPD requirements, that authorises a registered practitioner to practise during that calendar year.

Registration granted to a foreign-trained or visiting practitioner for a limited period and scope, usually for a specified post, teaching role, or humanitarian service.

Permission for an unregistered foreign or awaiting-registration doctor to observe and learn in a Nigerian facility without independent clinical responsibility, for a fixed, renewable period.

A document issued by a regulator confirming that a practitioner's registration is current and unencumbered, commonly required for overseas applications or transfers.

Behaviour falling below the standards expected of a registered practitioner, ranging from negligence and record falsification to advertising, fee-splitting, and improper relationships with patients.

Serious breach of ethical or professional duty, such as assault of a patient, gross negligence, or practising while impaired, which may lead to suspension or erasure.

The body constituted under the Act that hears complaints of professional misconduct, receives evidence, and recommends sanctions to the Council.

Removal of a practitioner's name from the register, either as a disciplinary sanction or for other statutory reasons, ending the legal right to practise until restored.

A time-limited sanction withdrawing the right to practise, after which the practitioner may resume subject to conditions set by the Council.

Restrictions attached to a practitioner's registration, such as supervision, limited scope, or mandatory retraining, imposed instead of or alongside suspension.

A patient's voluntary agreement to a procedure after receiving adequate information about its nature, risks, benefits, and alternatives, given by a patient with capacity.

The ethical and legal position that life-saving treatment may proceed without formal consent when the patient lacks capacity and no surrogate can be reached.

The duty to protect patient information from unauthorised disclosure, subject to lawful exceptions such as statutory reporting, court orders, or serious public-health risk.

Contemporaneous, accurate, and legible documentation of a patient's care that supports clinical decisions, protects both parties, and is retained for the required period.

The duty to involve another practitioner when a case exceeds one's competence and to respect a patient's request for another opinion without abandoning care.

Arrangements where a practitioner shares fees or receives inducements for referrals, treated as unethical because they subordinate patient interest to financial gain.

Promotion of medical services, which is restricted to factual, non-sensational information and must not claim superiority or exploit patients' fears.

Conduct that breaches the professional–patient relationship, including sexual contact, exploitative financial dealings, or treating relatives without appropriate safeguards.

A structured review by the Council confirming that a training institution meets prescribed standards in curriculum, staffing, facilities, and assessment before its graduates are registrable.

The prescribed benchmark for curriculum content, admission requirements, staff qualifications, library holdings, and clinical exposure that every medical and dental programme must meet.

The national document setting core curriculum benchmarks for Nigerian university programmes, which medical and dental schools must align with alongside Council requirements.

An on-site inspection by a Council panel that verifies facilities, teaching staff, patient load, and records, and results in full, provisional, or denied accreditation.

Time-limited approval granted to a programme with remediable deficiencies, allowing it to continue while it submits evidence of correction before a follow-up review.

A formal arrangement linking a medical school to accredited hospitals that provide supervised clinical training and house-officer posts.

A staffing benchmark used in accreditation that limits the number of students per qualified academic staff to ensure adequate supervision and instruction.

A compulsory supervised internship of at least twelve months in approved rotations, completed after the medical or dental degree and before full registration.

Scheduled postings through departments such as medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, and community health that a house officer must complete.

A record, signed by supervisors, documenting the procedures and cases a house officer has completed and serving as evidence for certification of internship.

A document issued by the training institution confirming satisfactory completion of housemanship, required before full registration is granted.

Structured learning after qualification, including courses, conferences, and self-directed study, that practitioners must accumulate to maintain competence and renew their licence.

The unit in which CPD activity is measured; practitioners must earn a set minimum over a defined cycle, with credit values varying by activity type and duration.

A review of a practitioner's CPD records to confirm that claimed activities were genuinely undertaken and meet the required minimum for licence renewal.