NARD Opposes New ‘Doctor’ Titles for Pharmacy, Physiotherapy Degrees

In a statement released Thursday on their official X platform, NARD warned that the change could lead to patient confusion and worsen interprofessional tensions in Nigeria’s healthcare system.

While expressing support for improved welfare for all healthcare professionals, the association criticised what it described as a growing trend of competing with medical doctors rather than focusing on systemic improvements.

“Between 2005 and 2025, most strikes by these groups have centred on demands to adjust the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) to match the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS),” the statement noted.

NARD highlighted that there is no international precedent where pharmacists, physiotherapists, or optometrists in public healthcare systems earn higher salaries than medical doctors, citing the central role physicians play in diagnosis and treatment decisions.

The medical association challenged the NUC’s claim that the change reflects “global best practices,” noting that countries like the UK and Germany only confer the “Doctor” title to these professionals after they complete a PhD, not merely undergraduate training.

“Conferring the title ‘Doctor’ on multiple professional groups without public education or structural clarity may confuse patients, worsen interprofessional tensions, and enable quackery in an already fragile health system,” NARD warned.

The resident doctors urged the NUC to reconsider the decision and instead pursue policies that would strengthen collaboration and excellence in Nigeria’s healthcare sector.

The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between different healthcare professional groups in Nigeria, where role definition and compensation structures have been contentious issues for decades.