A lot of students make critical mistakes because they’re ignorant of the JAMB Requirements for Medicine and surgery.
This is either because of not following the JAMB brochure for medicine and surgery, or choosing the wrong subject combination.
Whichever one it is, the mistakes will eventually cause long-term pain and regret.
There is a trendy quote that says –“Plenty are called, few are selected”. This statement relates to the medical school acceptance rate in Nigeria.
Each year, thousands of young enthusiastic aspirants make up their minds to study Medicine in Nigeria.
But at the end of the day?
Only a Few make it, and even fewer reach the finish line as medical doctors.
It is these observations that piqued my interest in creating this content to guide aspirants to the right path.
In this post, I’ll be throwing more light on the following:
- What Medicine and Surgery mean as a course.
- The accurate JAMB subjects combination for Medicine and Surgery
- WAEC subject required for Medicine and Surgery
- JAMB brochure and requirements for medicine and surgery
- Degree awarding Universities that study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria
- General information to note about the course
What is Medicine and Surgery As A Course?
It is expedient you acquire some knowledge on what the terms ‘Medicine’ and ‘Surgery’ entails. Medicine and Surgery embrace both definitions.
Medicine is the science involving the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infections and illnesses.
Surgery, on the other hand, is a medical specialty that uses operative guides and instrumental procedures on a patient to investigate and repair structures in the body.
It takes six to seven solid years to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigerian Universities. The timing may differ depending on the school you attend.
MBBS, which most of you have heard of before, or probably been perplexed
about is known in full as Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of surgery. It is the degree awarded to Medicine and Surgery graduates.
The medical sector in Nigeria and the world generally is a delicate sector. This is because it deals with the lives and health of people, and life is the most important possession of any man.
It’s always faced with challenges, hence the increasing need for medical practitioners. Studying Medicine and Surgery is therefore not a small feat.
Compulsory JAMB Subjects Combination for Medicine and Surgery
It should be known, for a start, that Medicine and Surgery is a science-based study course. Therefore, only a confused Management sciences or Arts student would say he/she wants to study Medicine and Surgery.
Here is a list of the required subjects to be combined :
• Use of English – The Use of English is the most important subject in JAMB irrespective of the aspired course.
• Physics
• Chemistry
• Biology.
However, there have been cases of people replacing Physics or Chemistry with Mathematics.
It should be brought to your notice that currently, Mathematics is highly unacceptable in the list of JAMB subjects for Medicine and Surgery except for one school which you’ll know about below.
WAEC Subjects For Medicine and Surgery
As important as the knowledge of the JAMB subject for Medicine and Surgery is, so also is it expedient for every Medicine aspirant to take note of the required WAEC subjects.
The knowledge of both is important to the same extent. The required WAEC subjects are listed below :
- Mathematics.
- Use of English.
- Physics.
- Chemistry.
- Biology.
A minimum of a C grade is needed in each of the subjects listed above to be considered for admission to study Medicine in any of the Nigerian medical Universities.
JAMB Requirements And Brochure for Medicine and Surgery
The Joint Admissions Matriculation Board, JAMB releases a brochure that guides students in decision making during the UTME application.
As an aspirant of Medicine and surgery, it’s super important you read the JAMB brochure to understand all that’s required from you.
This JAMB brochure for Medicine and surgery contains the UTME subject combination, O’level, and A-Level requirements for medical students.
In this guide below, I’ve simplified everything on the jamb Requirements for Medicine and surgery. Enjoy!
UTME Requirements
We’ve discussed the subjects needed for medicine and surgery above. However, there are special things to note concerning this regard;
UTME Special requirement for Medicine
1. Use of Physics
The norm for the jamb requirements for medicine and surgery is English, Biology, Chemistry, And Physics. However, some schools allow you to write mathematics in place of Physics. The schools are:
- University of Maidiguri (UNIMAID)
- Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto (UDUSOK)
2. Minimum of 240 In UTME- JAMB Requirements for Medicine and Surgery
Although Jamb sets the cut-off mark for universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education, the University of Ilorin requires its medical aspirants to score at least 240 in UTME. Therefore a student with a score below this, will not be considered for admission into Medicine.
3. Five O’level credit passes in one sitting
We’ve explained the Waec subjects for medicine and surgery as discussed in this guide. However, some schools require you to get at least a credit pass in all core subjects in one sitting. The schools in this category are;
- University of Nigeria, Nsukka
- University of Ilorin
- University of Ibadan
- University of Benin
- Imo state university
- Abia state university
- Ebonyi state university
- University of Osun
- Anambra state university
- Delta state university
- Bowen university
4. Credit passes in Two sittings
Unlike in the above, some schools give grace and Accept more than a minimum of 5 credit passes in all core subjects in more than one sitting, but not more than two. The university here is;
- Niger Delta University
Direct entry From JAMB requirements for medicine and surgery
To be eligible to apply for Medicine and surgery using direct entry, you’ll need to adhere to the following;
(I) A-Level passes in Biology or Zoology, Physics, Chemistry plus the Utme requirements.
(ii) Either Bachelor of science in fields related to medicine and surgery.
This is the general direct entry requirement, but below are special remarks for different universities in Nigeria.
Special requirements for direct entry
Mathematics instead of Physics
If you don’t want to do physics at A’level, you do not have to worry again as some schools require mathematics in place of it. The universities are;
- University of Maidiguri
- Ebonyi state university
- Usman Danfodio university, Sokoto UDUSOK
Bachelor of Science in Related Courses
To get medicine and surgery as a direct entry student, you will need to have done a degree in courses related to the discipline. However, know that each school presents its unique requirements concerning which degrees to accept.
1. UNILAG- JAMB Requirements For Medicine and Surgery
The University of Lagos requires first class or second class upper division grade in any of the following courses: Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiotherapy, Radiography, Ophthalmology, Pharmacy, Microbiology, Cell biology, and genetics, Medical laboratory science.
2. UNICAL
The University of Calabar accepts B.sc in Anatomy, Biochemistry, Nursing, Medical laboratory science, Biology, Zoology, Chemistry.
3. UNIBEN
The University of Benin accepts a B.sc in any biological science or medical science course.
4. UNILORIN JAMB requirements for medicine and surgery
This university accepts Degrees in Anatomy Biochemistry, Microbiology, Physiology, Zoology, and other basic sciences.
5. UNIOSUN
This federal government school from Osun state accepts degrees from medical, paramedical, biological, chemical, or physical sciences with a grade not less than second class upper division.
6. NDU
They accept degrees in Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Zoology, Chemistry, Physics, and Botany.
A’level/ Jupeb requirements
UNILAG accepts very good passes in Physics, Biology, and chemistry with not less than 12 points in all of them.
UNIBEN accepts at least 3 A-level passes in physics, biology or zoology, and chemistry in not more than one sitting.
UNILORIN requires at least 13 points in JuPeb with a minimum of C in all courses.
- EBSU: minimum of C
- UNIOSUN: at least 10 points
- NDU: at least 10 points in not more than two sittings
- Other schools that also accept A’level are: ABSU, OOU, UNICAL, BSU, IMSU, LASU, LAUTECH, etc.
General Information on Medicine and Surgery
Medicine and Surgery are being thought in schools to equip students with the art of providing proper health care services independently.
After completion of their training in the University, they undergo a one-year internship and may choose to specialize to become public health physicians, gynecologists, obstetricians, psychiatrists, Surgeons, and the rest.
5 Tips on Acing JAMB as a Medical Aspirant
Dear Aspirant, let’s call a spade a spade; you want to get very high scores in JAMB and gain admission into Medicine and surgery.
And why shouldn’t you?
After all, no one would love to score low in jamb and get rejected during admission. But…
Everyone else has similar goals like you; to ace JAMB with scores above 300, smash the post-UTME, get a pretty high aggregate and make it into the merit list.
But at the end? Not everyone is able to make it. What will distinguish you? There’s no need to worry; that’s why MedicsDomain is here! Here’s our piece of advice concerning passing JAMB excellently.
1. Begin Your Preparations Very Early
If you want to score very high in Jamb and get admission, you should get on the race as early as possible. Don’t play by the normal rules by reading one month before JAMB. Instead, start reading early as you can.
2. Read Regularly- JAMB requirements for medicine and surgery
What you do frequently will eventually become a habit. This statement is not new, and it also applies in acing JAMB. You need to be consistent and read every single day.
Secret: I read every day during my preparations, and even studied on Christmas Day!
I’m not saying you should do that, but you should understand that it’s a do-or-die affair and must commit regularly to your studying process.
3. Eat Past Questions
Everyone will have JAMB past questions and will eventually meet the requirements for medicine and surgery, but will they all get admission? Absolutely not!
You might have a bunch of Previous UTME exam tests, but how do you use them? That’ll determine if you’ll do well or not!
So the advice here is to chew on your past questions. Use them regularly, know them inside out, and most importantly, ensure you don’t cram, but use it to learn your weak points and strengthen important points.
4. Revise as much as you can
You can cover lots of topics in biology, chemistry, physics, but what you can remember? That’ll determine if you’d score above 300 or not!
So, you should revise as frequently as you can before the exam day. Don’t wait before you cover all the syllabus before you start revising. Make time out and try to recall and remember all that you’ve been reading previously.
5. Pray
It’s all to God’s glory that you’re on earth, trying to achieve His purpose, and succeed in life. So, commit your exams to God Almighty. You’ve done your best and followed all JAMB requirements for medicine and surgery. Now allow everything to fall in place under God’s care.
Here, I’ve discussed extensively more tips on scoring high above 300 in JAMB. You can also read this guide to get admission even with low JAMB score.
Conclusion on the JAMB requirements And Brochure for Medicine and Surgery
A saying goes – “The future is in our hands”. We take full responsibility for our success, as well as our failures.
Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria are highly competitive, therefore we have to take due caution when filling out the application forms.
Little mistakes could cause big problems in the future. To become a successful Medicine graduate in Nigeria, it starts with knowing the JAMB requirements for Medicine and Surgery.
