UBTH: History, Departments, Schools & Residency training

Brief History of UBTH

From very humble beginnings as Midwest Medical Centre in 1971, the University of Benin Teaching Hospital has risen to become the second largest teaching hospital in the country.

The Midwest Medical Centre was the brainchild of then Military Governor of Midwestern State (later Bendel, and now Edo and Delta States), Late Brigadier General Samuel Ogbemudia who established the Centre with Edict No. 12 of 1971. Within a year it was renamed University of Benin Teaching Hospital and was officially opened to the public on the 12th of May 1973 by Her Excellency, Mrs Victoria Gowon.

From the inaugural Board headed by late Dr. (Mrs.) Irene E. B. Ighodaro to the current Board headed by Bashorun Adedoja Adewolu (MFR), the Hospital has consistently witnessed expansion in every area of healthcare service delivery, education and research.

Beginning as a 360-bedded institution, UBTH has grown into a multi-speciality 850-bedded centre. In its first decade, over 1.4 million patients (in-patients and out-patients) were treated. The Hospital currently sees over 400,000 patients annually.

In addition, UBTH provides training for middle and high-level manpower needed for the healthcare workforce in Nigeria in various disciplines.

These include (but are not limited to) specialist doctors and dentists, post-basic nurses, health records officers, paramedics, anaesthetic and dental technologists, and biomedical engineers.

UBTH is the only hospital in sub-Saharan Africa to have successfully done 3 stem cell transplants. she also pioneered in vitro fertilization (IVF) services amongst government hospitals in Nigeria.

Administratively, the number of departments/units has grown from 20 to over 67.

UBTH has achieved and excelled beyond its founding mandate which included the following:
* To provide a full range of hospital and specialist services to the community.
* To provide clinical facilities for the education of medical students and allied healthcare professionals.
* To provide facilities for the continuing education of medical graduates.
* To undertake medical research.

The current Board and Management of the Hospital is committed to promoting the legacies of the past and improving on the founding mandate, with a view to transforming UBTH into a leading destination for healthcare, education and research in the West African sub-region.

Clinical Departments in University of Benin Teaching Hospital.

UBTH has many departments that spreads across Medicine, Surgery, Paediatrics or Child Health and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pathology, Psychiatry,  Community Health, Pharmacy and Nursing.

Each medical or surgical department is headed by a consultant while the Nursing department is headed by Deputy Director of Nursing Services (DDNS).  The Director of Nursing Services (DNS)  is at the state level and overseas nursing in the state.

The departments are:

• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Orthopedics and Traumatology
• General Surgery
• Head and Neck Surgery
• Ophthalmology (Eye doctors)
• Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT)
• Anaesthesiology department
• Radiology
• Family Medicine
• Cardio-thoracic Surgery/Vascular Surgery
• Urology
• Pediatric Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Oncology and Radiotherapy
• Hematology (Bone Marrow Transplant)
• Chemical Pathology
• Morbid Anatomy
• Microbiology
• Mental Health
• Pharmacy department
• Pediatrics
• Dentistry
• Pharmacy
• Community Health
• Obstetrics and Gynecology with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)
• Nephrology (Renal Unit)
• Endocrinology
• Dermatology
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Neurology
• Rheumatology
• Respiratology (Respiratory Unit)
• Cardiology
• Geriatrics
• Nursing
• Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD)

There is also the Administrative Department that oversees the daily running of the hospital and is headed by the Chief Medical Director.

Schools

The University of Benin Teaching Hospital provides training for high,  middle and highly skilled manpower for resident doctors, nurses, paramedics, plaster technicians, occupational therapists, health information technologists, and health information managers.

UBTH has the following training institutions:

• Post Graduate College for the training of doctors and dentists to consultancy level.
• School of Post Graduate Nursing comprising Paediatric Nursing, Emergency nursing and Peri-operative Nursing.
• School of Nursing for the training of Registered Nurses (RN)
• School of Post Graduate Midwifery
• Institute of Health Technology (IHT) made up of Dental Nursing,  Paramedic, Anesthetic Technology, Biomedical Engineering, Occupational Therapy, Medical Imaging, and Plaster Technology departments. Institute of Health Technology has 7 departments and it award the Ordinary National Diploma(OND) certificate for a 3 year program except the Paramedic department that offers Higher National Diploma (HND) for a 5 year program.
• School of Health Information Management (SHIM) where students that will later become medical records staff are trained. SHIM offers Higher National Diploma(HND) after a 5 year program and they go for the compulsory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC). SHIM also offers programmes for Community Health for registered nurses and Community Health extension.

Residency Programmes

The University of Benin Teaching Hospital offers residency programme for the 4-6 years training of doctors to become specialists or consultants in their various choices of specialties.

UBTH offers residency training in the following specialties:

• Maxillofacial surgery
• Pediatric dentistry
• Periodontics
• Orthodontics
• Dermatology
• Hematology/Stem Cell Transplant
• Medical Microbiology
• Chemical Pathology
• Morbid Anatomy (Forensics)
• Rheumatology
• Cardiology
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Cosmetic Surgery)
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Endocrinology
• Nephrology
• Urology
• Oncology
• Ortholaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat)
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Respiratology
• Neurology
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Psychiatry
• Pediatrics
• Family Medicine
• Pediatric surgery
• General surgery
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
• Radiology
• Ophthalmology
• Geriatrics
• Emergency and Acute Medicine

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