Most Lucrative Medical Courses in Nigeria 2024: Top 10
If you ask around what the lucrative medical courses in Nigeria are, without fail, both students and parents alike would mention medicine and surgery. This is quite understandable because the only medical course they know is the same medicine and surgery.
What many of them don’t know is that the medical profession is a body of professionals who are trained in the art of maintaining the good health of a human being. It is a functional unit of medical laboratory scientists, pharmacists, physiologists, optometrists, physiotherapists, nurses, and of course, medical doctors.
This explains why students when they graduate from their various secondary schools go gung-ho to study medicine and then don’t get this dream course, they think their entire life is over. This mentality stems from their belief that other professionals play second fiddle to medical doctors.
What they are oblivious to is the fact these highly esteemed doctors actually rely on other medical professions to make informed decisions about a patient’s health.
Now, you know that every medical professional is a part of a whole and there are many lucrative medical courses in Nigeria:
List of Most Lucrative Medical Courses In Nigeria
Medicine and Surgery
As we had earlier said, the dream course for many science students in secondary school is to study medicine and surgery at the university, and understandably so, it is one of the most lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
This particular medical course spans six years and the admitted students learn anatomy, biochemistry, community medicine, pathology, physiology, pharmacology, and dermatology, and with this knowledge, they are equipped to prescribe drugs that help patients recover their health.
Asides from the conventional job of working in the hospital, doctors can also venture into journalism, lecturing, or even sports medicine.
However, as prestigious as this course, students assume that studying this course automatically gives you a good place in life.* Like every other career you need to strategically build it to be successful.
Dentistry
If there is any course that has suffered from misunderstanding, it just has to be dentistry. For many students, dentistry is all about the teeth. But, the truth is, that is only but a small fraction of what dentistry is about. Dentistry is the medical science that specializes in oral health, mouth, and of course, teeth hygiene.
Even more, dentists aren’t limited to just the oral area, some parts of the facial region are under the job description of a dentist. For example, surgeries involving the joints like the temporomandibular joint or even diseases related to nerves, and blood vessels situated in the facial area are carried out by dentists.
This explains why to a very large extent, they do nearly the same courses, as those studying medicine and surgery do. In fact, because of their knowledge of pharmacology and pathology, they can diagnose illnesses and prescribe drugs but, their license disallows them from doing so.
It is considered one of those lucrative medical courses in Nigeria because dentists can work not only in government hospitals but also, they can work in clinics owned by private individuals.
Pharmacy
Another abused medical profession in Nigeria is a pharmacy. Everywhere you turn, you see a “pharmacy shop” and this, in turn, has informed many to think that pharmacy is all about opening a shop and selling drugs to people who favor self-medication over visiting the hospital.
Pharmacy is a medical science that studies the chemical components of drugs and how they affect the functionality of the human body. The knowledge of these drugs helps pharmacists prescribe drugs that can effectively tackle illnesses diagnosed by a doctor.
There are also new entrants into this field making it an ever-growing profession. This is why it is considered one of the most lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
Nursing
The general idea many people have about nursing is that nursing is an all-female profession, well, maybe the psychology of women is what makes females thrive in the profession, but the truth is, nursing is for males too. There is no formal rule anywhere that forbids males from studying nursing.
Patients whilst taking their drugs as prescribed by the doctor would need care and rest, this is where nurses come in. All through the patient’s recovery in the hospital, nurses are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that the patients take their drugs promptly and regularly.
Since they provide huge assistance for doctors, nursing is believed to be one of the most lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
Medical Laboratory Science
Blood is believed to be the fluid of life because it provides transport for oxygen, food nutrients, and ions which are necessary for the perfect functioning of a human body. Medical laboratory scientists are skilled in conducting tests on these fluids.
Even when a doctor makes a diagnosis, he still has reservations about certain symptoms because different illnesses can have similar symptoms. It is these tests which could be chemical, histological, or immunological that medical laboratory scientists carry out that gives the doctor a perfect idea of the state of health of any patient.
Considering its highly important role in the health system, medical laboratory science is one of the most lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a compound word, as you may have already guessed made up of physical therapy. Doctors make use of oral medicine to restore perfect health, but, not all diseases can be fully treated without the inclusion of a physical exercise regimen. Musculoskeletal diseases are one such.
In physiotherapy or medical rehabilitation, as it is seldom called, the medicine here is physical. It takes enrolled students five years to finish up study and become certified physiotherapists.
It is considered one of the many lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
Radiography and Radiology
They are quite similar because an x-ray is involved, but, the approach is different. Medical radiography deals with the skill of making scans available for the diagnosis of fractures, dislocations, and every other muscular-related issue. Medical radiologists, on the other hand, are skilled in interpreting the radiological scans to the end that a good diagnosis can be made.
Some universities combine them to a certain extent. It must be said that it is one of the budding medical professions in the country making it one of the most lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
Radiography and Radiology aren’t only limited to the bones, joints, and muscles, foreign objects that can’t be located easily or even a growing foetus is within the purview of this particular medical science.
Optometry
There have been many conflicts about whether this field is the same as Opthalmology or whether they are different. Well, optometry deals with primary eye care and Opthalmology, specialized eye diseases.
This is not only one of the lucrative medical courses in Nigeria, but also, they are concerned with the treatment of diseases related only to the eye. Some eye diseases include astigmatism, cataracts, myopia, hypermetropia, and others.
Optometrists also prescribe what glasses could cure eye diseases.
Veterinary Medicine
Many medical courses in Nigeria have come under beclouded judgment, and one of those courses is a veterinary medicine. Veterinary medicine contrary to popular opinion isn’t just limited to dogs, the health of animals like cats, rabbits, and cows is within the scope of veterinary medicine.
The plethora of opportunities that studying veterinary medicine affords students make the course the most lucrative medical course in Nigeria. Veterinary doctors can work in zoos, laboratories, animal clinics, or even on farms.
Anatomy
Anatomy is a medical science that deals with the study of structures or better put, the framework of the human body. This healthcare course is also one of the many lucrative medical courses in Nigeria.
However, since most medical students offer anatomy in their preclinical and specialized level, in their clinical years, it can be relatively difficult for them to find jobs easily
Conclusion
It isn’t hard to see in this list of lucrative medical courses in Nigeria that these courses are interdependent on each other. Every course needs the other one for you to arrive at a functional health system.
