The newly inducted medical graduates of Ahmadu Bello University have been told that the white coat they will soon be wearing is a symbol of trust, service, sacrifice, and hope.
Giving the counsel was the Provost of ABU College of Medical Sciences, Prof Dahiru Ismaila Lawal, at the institution’s 2026 induction of new medical graduates.
A statement from the Public Affairs Directorate Office of the VC said a total of 132 graduating medical students of the university were administered the Physician’s Hippocratic Oath by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).
The event took place at Abdullahi Mahadi Conference Centre, Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru, Zaria.
Prof Lawal also urged the new graduating MBBS students to wear the white coat with humility to protect the honour of the medical profession.
The provost told them that Nigeria and the global community need physicians who are not only clinically competent but also compassionate leaders for equitable healthcare.
He encouraged them to serve wherever they are needed with dedication, fairness, and respect for every individual regardless of social status, ethnicity, religion, gender, or economic background.
Prof Lawal also enjoined them to take time and read the MDCN code of medical ethics which will remain their guide throughout the practising years.
The provost further urged them to go out and explore, learn, and integrate the extraordinary advances in medicine in their day to day practice.
“By so doing you will truly be an ABU graduate aligning and fitting in with global trends”, he said.
He advised that they should not take lightly the privilege they will have to diagnose illness, relieve suffering, restore health, comfort the dying, and support families during most vulnerable moments.
Prof Lawal appreciated the college staff and all members of the university community whose dedication had nurtured the graduating class into competent and responsible medical graduates.
In his remarks at the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Adamu Ahmed, congratulated the graduating MBBS students on successful completion of their medical education and training.
Prof Ahmed said the medical students did not merely graduate with a degree, as they also assumed a profound responsibility to humanity.
“By taking the Hippocratic Oath, you commit yourselves to a profession founded on knowledge, competence, compassion, integrity, and service.
“I therefore urge you to always remember that behind every diagnosis is a human being, and behind every patient is a family placing its trust in you”, he said.
He urged that as they leave the university they should carry with them the values of the university which are excellence, service, integrity, and commitment to humanity.
“Continue to learn, because medicine is a profession in which learning never ends”, he also said.
He commended the academic and clinical staff of the College of Medical Sciences and the ABU Teaching Hospital for their dedication.
He said the seamless working relationship between the college and the teaching hospital is particularly important to the quality of medical training the university provides.
Also speaking, the guest lecturer, Prof Ibrahim Abdu-Aguye, congratulated the young doctors on attaining their life-long ambition to become medical doctors.
The guest lecturer said as they stepped out of the medical school they would need to be genuinely interested in the plight of the patients that they would see.
Prof Abdu-Aguye stated that they would also be required to show empathy, courtesy, and give due consideration to the patients circumstances.
“You will derive joy from the smiles on their faces”, he said in the lecture he presented at the occasion.
The medical doctors, according to him, would need to pay close attention to their supervising seniors and learn as much practical skills as possible for their future independent practice.
He advised that if they had not already made up their mind about where to specialise in, their first few years in practice would help them to decide.
Abdu-Aguye also told the new medical doctors that they were beginning a life of service to humanity during which they would have a unique opportunity to be useful to the numerous clients.
“Not many professionals in the world will have this type of privilege. You will be let into the lives of individuals that you serve”, Abdu-Aguye said.
In his words of advice as a medical elder, the former Chief Medical Director, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Prof Abdulmumin Hassan Rafindadi, spoke on the ethical values of the medical profession.
Rafindadi cautioned the newly inducted medical graduates on the need to desist from any temptation that would cost the lives of their patients.
The former ABUTH chief medical director also spoke on issuance of death certificate, cautioning that under no circumstances should they issue a death certificate without, first and foremost, seeing the dead body.
Rafindadi, the erstwhile Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Lokoja, congratulated the young doctors and wished them success in their future medical career.
