By Rabiat Mohammed

Participants and experts in the reproductive health sector have commended Nisa Premier Hospital, a private health facility in Abuja, the nation's capital, for hosting a year-long training for doctors in infertility and assisted reproductive technology leading to the Post Fellowship Diploma of the West African College of Surgeons.

They expressed the views on Tuesday at the conclusion of the training described as efforts to advance medical science by equipping doctors with relevant knowledge and skills in the sector.

The Post Fellowship programme which was hosted by Nisa Premier Hospital, was organised for Consultant Gynaecologists to acquire knowledge and skills in advanced fertility treatments, providing participants hands-on training in in vitro fertilization (IVF) and related technologies.

Nisa Premier Hospital's Programme Director, Dr Ibrahim Wada said the need for continuous training informed the hospital's determination to embrace advancement in medical practice.

“The world is moving towards certifying basic minimum requirements for this kind of highly sensitive programme. And we are very happy to be the pioneer group that gave birth to this sub specialization program,” he said.

He nioted that the programme provides post-training certification for doctors across Nigeria and West Africa with primary focus on the peculiarities of the Black population.

Prof Joseph Ikechebelum and Professor Nkiruka Ameh who are both members of the training faculty in advanced medical knowledge, expressed confidence in the ability of Nigerian doctors to provide specialist care.

On his part, Faculty Chairman of West African College of Surgeons, Prof. Ikechebelum, observed that “management of infertility and assisted reproductive technology is one of the sub-specialties in obstetrics and gynaecology."

He however lamented that for a long time, there was no certified, standardized training for gyneacologists in the area of infertility and assisted reproductive technology in the whole West African sub-region.

Prof. Ameh also described the fellowship programme as unique because fellows were trained with “our own patients- black women, Nigerian women, so they will fit better in the environment, and they will make management of infertility to be correctly done.”

A participant, Prof Hajara Umar Suleiman, in her contribution regretted that most Nigerian doctors who go abroad for specialist training in fertility treatment were often denied physical interaction with patients.

“They tell you that you don't have the certificate of their country to practice. But in this place, we spent one whole year and we had a lot of hands-on experience,” she said.

Another participant, Dr. Dolapo Shittu, expressed gratitude to the hospital for providing a platform for residency training and knowledge sharing with experts, saying "history was made today by the grace of God. I am very happy to be here."

Nisa Premier Hospital was in 2014 accredited for Post Graduate Residency Training in several specialties including obstetrics and gyneacology; family medicine, paediatrics, and anaesthesia. 

The hospital remains the only center accredited in the whole of West Africa for Post Fellowship Diploma Training in Assisted Reproductive Technology.

It also prides itself as the only centre in West Africa to have achieved that feat and it has created opportunity for consultants from other hospitals to train and obtain their diploma from the West African College of Surgeons.