TETFund Supports Medical Simulation In Educational Reforms

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has shown strong support for the integration of medical simulation into the educational curriculum.

Following a comprehensive report from its adhoc committee on medical simulation and innovation interventions, TETFund is urging the government to adopt this innovative approach as a key component in shaping the future of medical education.

The recommendation aims to enhance the training of healthcare professionals and improve the quality of medical education in the country.

TETFund recently received report from its adhoc committee on medical simulation and innovation interventions with a strong recommendation for government to incorporate medical simulation in the education curriculum.

The committee also urged the Federal Government to establish multiple medical simulation centres across the country, at least one simulation centre in each geopolitical zone.

According to the findings of the committee, the estimated cost of setting up each simulation centre is between N4 to N6 billion, subject to inflationary trends.

Chairman of the committee and a world-renowned neurosurgeon, Prof. Wale Sulaiman, highlighted key findings and recommendations of the committee while presenting the report to the management of TETFund at a brief ceremony in Abuja.

The report which was received by the Chairman of Board of Trustees of TETFund, Aminu Bello Masari, called for urgent modernisation of medical practices in Nigeria including substantial investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, to transform patient diagnostics and treatment.

Sulaiman said investment in medical simulations would tremendously improve Nigeria’s capacity to address the disease burdens in the country especially non-communicable diseases, maternal child health, accident and emergencies, traumas, infectious disease outbreaks and surgical care.

He said: “There is an urgent need for all healthcare regulatory bodies in Nigeria to incorporate medical simulation in the education curriculum of their trainees as well as accept medical simulation training as a critical component of Continuing medical education (CME) and proficiency training”.

He emphasised the need to accelerate the transition to integrated training curriculum in all healthcare institutions.

Sulaiman also lamented that the absence of simulation centres is severely limiting the ability to train healthcare workers effectively.

“Modern educational practices are almost absent in Nigerian universities,” adding this lack of resources is especially apparent in the minimal use of advanced technologies like telemedicine and remote patient monitoring, which are essential for improving access to healthcare across the nation.

He underscored the importance of AI in transforming patient diagnostics and treatment, saying, “We must embrace AI-enabled technologies for interpreting medical diagnostics and supporting surgical procedures”.

According to him, investing in innovative technologies is the most cost-effective way to meet the growing demand for medical care in the country.

“We must train our young population to become experts in these innovative technologies to minimise dependency on foreign experts,” he stated.

He further maintained that AI is the future and Nigeria could not be left behind in new ways of doing things, especially the urgent need to prepare younger generation for the tomorrow.

According to him, there is an urgent need to establish multiple medical simulation centers across the country and establishment of more than one simulation center in each geopolitical zone.

“The new specialised federal universities of health sciences are best positioned to receive the first batch of medical simulation centers, especially those that have admitted students for training. However, final selection of the beneficiary universities could be based on needs assessment and geopolitical spread.”

He said the medical simulation center is a TETFUND education initiative, and as such, it is under the management of the colleges of health sciences/medicine of the universities.

“For efficiency and sustainability, we recommend that the simulation center should be an independent entity with its own leadership, staff, ring-fenced funding mechanism, and defined key performance indicators (KPIs).

“The simulation center could be outsourced to a management entity with expertise in medical simulation for an annual management fee and for the duration of tetfund intervention. The management fee may be renewable for additional 3 years if the center is not self-sufficient. Release of funds to the management entity shall be linked to clearly defined key performance indicators (KPIs).”

He added that one of the ways Nigeria healthcare may leapfrog into the 21st century health system is through major Investments in education and training of future of more healthcare workers that can compete on the world stage

According to him, digital healthcare (Telemedicine and remote patient care) is another element of healthcare innovation that would significantly improve access to medical care by Nigerians.

“We must embrace Al-enabled technologies that are available for diagnoses and treatments of patients such as Al-enabled interpretation of medical diagnostics, Al-supported procedures and surgeries.

“Investment in innovative technologies is the most cost-effective way to manage the ever-increasing demand for medical care by our populace. We must train our young population to become experts in these innovative technologies to minimize dependency on foreign experts.

“We must engage international companies in a way that is most beneficial for our population by creating an enabling environment for them to bring their technologies to Nigeria. Indeed, we should strongly encourage them to open manufacturing plants for medical devices here in our land.”

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Arc Sonny Echono, applauded the committee for their commitment and dedication to timely submission of the report to guide the government on the next line of action.