Medical students in Nigeria: a case study in social change

Abstract

The dissertation explores relationships between social mobility and tribal identification, based on observations made among a sample of medical trainees at the University of Ibadan (formerly, the University College, Ibadan) in Western Nigeria. The thirteen-month study was carried out during 1962-63. Data were collected on 270 Southern Nigerians entering medical training in the years 1952-1960. Material was taken from university records, personal observations, unstructured interviews, and formal interviews with a sub-sample of 103 trainees drawn from among graduates or potential graduates in the years 1960-1965. Social background characteristics were compared with performance in training. Based on the ability to sit for and to pass all parts of the standard Second M. B. and Final M.B.-B.S. examinations and to graduate in the minimum five-year training period, representatives of large triues (Ibos, Yorubas) had a significantly higher pass rate than representatives of small tribes (Binis, Ijaws, Efiks, Ibibios, and several smaller groups). Corrections for caliber and location of secondary schools attended showed no variations in this pattern. Nor was it possible to account for these differential performances in terms of examination procedures, faculty bias, degree of exposure of various groups historically to foreign impact, or feelings of social isolation during training. [TRUNCATED]