Are you searching for the average Medical Doctor Salary in Nigeria?
Nigerian Doctors Earn Money. You know that.
As professionals who save lives and help sick patients, they should receive rewards for their jobs.
But how much exactly do Doctors earn in Nigeria?
What is the average medical doctor salary in Nigeria for house officers, serving corpers, junior registrar, senior registrar, consultant, professor?
If you’ve been searching for these questions, then you’ve landed in the right guide!
In this Informative post, I will explain all you need to know about the Medical doctor salary scale in Nigeria.
You’d get an estimate of how much these health professionals take home every month after saving lives and doing the amazing work they do.
Let’s jump on it immediately!
What Salary Structure Do Medical Doctors Use?
Obviously, for every certain body or organization, there ought to be a structure that governs the salary scale of professionals in that entity. The same applies to medical doctors.
Their salary depends on the set structure. Whether you’re a house officer, NYSC corp member, registrar, or consultant, there’s a scale to rate the average amount you earn monthly and yearly.
And you know what structure it is? It’s the CONMESS!
What is CONMESS?
The Consolidated Medical Salary Structure is a scale that rates the amount of money medical doctors should earn every month or year.
This scale came into place by the National salaries, income, and wages commission. It’s also signed by top authorities involved in Nigeria like the president, honorable ministers of health, defence, education, etc. It also involves the accountant-general of the federation, civil service, and lots more.
So you see, this decision-making is not focused on one individual.
This CONMESS came into play exactly on the 29th of September, 2009 under the circular SWC/S/04/S.410/220.
In 2019, It was amended to embrace the new National minimum wage and this kicked off from the 18th of April, 2019. Check the official and latest document on CONMESS.
Details of the CONMESS Salary Scale
The Consolidated Medical doctor salary has different levels and steps for the different stages of one’s career as a medical practitioner.
If you’re a medic, you’d know that Medical doctors are the professionals that teach and train medical students. And for this academic work, they get a special allowance.
Also, the consultants in the hospital setting have their special duty allowance. There are also numerous allowances that make up the medical doctor salary in Nigeria as explained below.
1. Specialist Allowance
This is the allowance that a doctor who has reached his highest area of specialty earns. It is for consultants in the hospitals. It is averagely from N1,093,068 – N2,031,923 annually.
2. Health professional non-clinical duty allowance
You do know that medical doctors aren’t only confined to the hospitals, right? Yes! They can work in different health-related institutions like; National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria center for Disease Control (NCDC).
So, there is also a health professional allowance for doctors that work in this area. It is averagely N541,080 – N1,464,000 annually.
3. Call Duty Allowance
This is the allowance paid to medical doctors in federal government hospitals. Doctors earn this allowance when they are on call duty in synergism with a call roster already in place.
4. Clinical Duty Allowance
For Honorary consultant doctors who are in the academic setting, they receive extra clinical duty allowance when they give clinical services to the federal government teaching hospitals.
5. Teaching Allowance
This allowance is also earned by consultants who teach medical students and doctors during posting sessions. It also involves consultants who teach other health professionals.
6. Hazard allowance
Being a doctor involves some kind of risk. A radiologist can expose himself to different kinds of dangerous rays which can alternate genes and cause malformations. So also, doctors are at risk of contracting the patient’s illness like covid-19.
Obviously, the doctor should be well learned to take care of themselves and know preventive measures of diseases. But they also deserve some allowance for that.
The Hazard allowance for medical doctors in Nigeria was initially N60,000 annually. Recently, it was increased to N40,000 monthly and N240,000 annually. Read the official circular on the hazard allowance increase.
Scale of Medical Doctor Salary in Nigeria
1. Housemanship Salary in Nigeria
Once you’ve passed through the gates of medical school, and sing praises for success through the rough journey, the first and next thing to do after medical school is your Housemanship program.
This one-year program is compulsory immediately after your medical induction. It is super important as it provides the opportunity for doctors to get into the professional setting and learn for their careers.
And you know the best part? You’d not only learn but also earn! But how much does a house officer earn in Nigeria? What is the housemanship salary in Nigeria?
Generally, officers working in the federal universities are placed on the CONMESS 1 scale which is an averagely of N1,667,601 annually that is N138,966. So the housemanship salary in Nigeria is averagely N110,000 – N200, 000 monthly.
Do House officers earn the same salary throughout Nigeria?
The answer is No. How much you’d earn during housemanship program depends on the hospital you practice. If you\re placed in a federal government hospital, your partly is likely higher. State government pays a little lower and private hospitals usually pay the least.
The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), just like JAMB, is in charge of allocating numerous medical graduates into hospitals for their one-year compulsory program.
2. NYSC Doctor Salary in Nigeria
As a graduate of any course, you’re obligated to serve a one-year compulsory tenure in Nigeria to show commitment and boost development, and this includes medical doctors.
After the housemanship program, the medical doctor will proceed to the National Youth Service Corps program. In this, you’d be posted to any state in Nigeria and be required to offer your medical knowledge to help Nigerians. You can experience the same thing as during a house job, that is, be posted to a hospital, and work.
However, the difference between the former and NYSC is the salary scale. Here, it is the federal government or state that pays the doctor. Averagely, NYSC doctors in Nigeria earn from N33,000 – N100,000.
Generally, everyone gets the standard national minimum wage but the state government pays extra. So finally, how much you’d earn serving your country depends on the state.
A friend of mine, and medical doctor earned around N80,000 during his NYSC program as a medical doctor.
3. Post-NYSC Nigerian Doctor Salary
How much do doctors earn per month in Nigeria?
Finally, after your NYSC, you’re now a medical doctor free to work wherever you want. There’s no compulsory program to involve in. You can begin applying to the plethora of doctor jobs across the country and in any state of your choice.
Like I said earlier, your salary after NYSC depends on the CONMESS scale. Post-NYSC doctors in Nigeria earn an average of N180,000- N260,000 every month. As usual, this depends if you’re in a federal hospital, state, or private.
4. Resident Doctors salary in Nigeria
After medical school, a doctor who decides to specialize in a particular field is a resident. There are a plethora of specialties to choose from: Cardiology, Neurology, Orthopaedics, Gastroentology, and so on.
Initially, you are called a Junior registrar and the average salary ranges from N220,000 – N280,000 monthly.
Senior registrars who are resident doctors earn an average of N250,000 – N350,000 monthly.
5. Consultant Doctor Salary in Nigeria
A Consultant is a medical doctor who has reached his peak in medical career. The doctor has finished medical school, undergone more years in training in a specialty, and passed successfully, having acquired specialized skills in that area.
Consultants are called different names depending on the area they focus in. For example, if I do residency in Cardio-thoracic surgery, I would be called a cardio-thoracic surgeon. One who specialized in Neurology, will be a Neurologist, and so on.
They earn their salary from different ways; specialist allowance, call duty, clinical duty, teaching, hazard, rural posting allowances.
Averagely, consultants in Nigeria earn from N450,000 – N700,000 monthly. According to the CONMESS, the highest paid doctor in Nigeria earns an average of N8,517,892.00 annually. Some may earn even higher! Do keep in mind that it varies depending on the job you get and place you work!
Summary of Medical Doctors Salary in Nigeria
How much is a doctor paid in Nigeria? Here’s it summarized below!
Government/ Teaching Hospitals
| Level | Monthly Salary in Government hospitals | |
| 1. | House Officers | N110,000 – N200,000 |
| 2. | NYSC Doctors | N33,000 – N100,000 |
| 3. | Medical Officers | N180,000 – N220,000 |
| 4. | Junior Registrars | N220,000 – N280,000 |
| 5. | Senior Registrars | N250,000 – N350,000 |
| 6. | Consultant | N450,000 – N700,000 |
Private Hospitals
| Level | Monthly salary in Private Hospitals | |
| 1. | Medical Officer | N70,000 – N180,000 |
| 2. | Resident Doctors | N120,000 – N250,000 |
| 3. | Consultants | N300,000 – N500,000 |
Criteria That Determine the Medical Doctor Salary in Nigeria
Picture this scene…
Dr. Chibuike, a graduate of Medicine and surgery from University of Ibadan just got a job in the Lagos University teaching hospital. However, Dr. Ade, who graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo university headed to a private clinic in his neighborhood for work.
On checking it was discovered that Chibuike’s salary as a medical doctor in Nigeria is N220,000 monthly while Ade receives N125,000 monthly. Why is there a difference between what Chibuike and Ade earn every single month? You’d soon find out below!
1. Work place affects medical doctor salary in Nigeria
Yes! Where you decide to work as a doctor will cause a feedback and determine how much you’d earn. Like you already know, federal government hospitals usually pay better than their state or private counterparts.
However, some private hospitals pay as high as government ones too! Examples include well established ones like St. Nicholas, Reddington and other top hospitals.
2. Career Level and Knowledge
Like in every profession, your career level will determine your income. A consultant in the hospital earns the highest as they receive different allowances like teaching for example.
Experience is also another factor that determines the medical doctor salary in Nigeria. You obviously won’t compare the salary of an expert in Nephrology with a junior doctor who recently graduated.
3. Specialty affects medical doctor salary in Nigeria
When it comes to the highest levels in Medicine which is Consultancy, there are also slight variances between the different medical specialists salary in Nigeria.
According to Dr. Udomoh Eshemokha, these are the highest paying specialities in Nigeria;
- Neurosurgery
- Cardiology and Cardiothoracic surgery
- Orthopaedic surgery
- Gastroentology
- Urology
- Plastic surgery
- Dermatology
- Radiology
- Anesthesiology
- Pyschiatry
- Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Orthodontist
- Oral and maxillofacial surgery
- Pediatrics
4. Extras
Asides the conventional number of hours and days a hospital expects doctors to work, there are other extras one can opt in, to earn more. Some hospitals arrive with options for Doctors to work during the weekends, for more pay. For example, in the CONMESS salary scale, there’s a region for Doctors on call.
List of the Best Hospitals in Nigeria
- University college hospital, Ibadan.
- Primus international super speciality hospital
- Lagos Island general hospital
- Evercare hospital
- Reddington
- Lagoon hospital, Ikeja and Ikoyi
- Eko hospital
- St. Nicholas hospital, Lagos.
- First consultant hospital
- Cedar crest hospitals
- Nizamiye hospital
How to become a medical doctor in Nigeria
- Decide to study medicine in Nigeria and impact the health sector
- Pick up the UTME form, and apply for medicine and surgery
- Write and score high in JAMB
- Apply for the post-UTME of your best medical school.
- Pass and get admission
- Get into medical school and be serious in your six years of study
- Learn the knowledge as best as you can
- Graduate and become a doctor!
Sum Up on the Medical Doctor Salary in Nigeria
In this explosive guide, I’ve carried you through how much medical doctors in Nigeria earn. Furthermore, you’ve come to know the different levels and the assigned salary structure.
Everyone in the medical setting, uses a particular salary structure, and how much one would earn as a doctor working for a hospital will hence be defined by the scale, which in this case is CONMESS.
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Hope you enjoyed this article on the Medical doctor salary in Nigeria?
