The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria has informed newly inducted medical and dental practitioners that they must create a profile on the MDCN Housemanship portal as the primary step for accessing federal housemanship placements. The council said this requirement applies immediately after doctors and dentists receive their provisional registration certificate following pledge-taking and is central to the placement process.
In a notice addressed to practitioners seeking housemanship opportunities, MDCN explained that housemanship remains a mandatory engagement carried out in approved hospitals, where first-year doctors are supervised by consultants with a structured transition to independent practice. The council said the process is designed to ensure accountability, patient safety, and professional development at the early stage of medical practice.
MDCN stated that all newly inducted doctors and dentists are required to create their profiles on the Housemanship portal at www.housemanship.mdcn.gov.ng. According to the council, the portal gives applicants access to apply for placements in any of the 47 federal training institutions nationwide under the management of MDCN. It added that applications are to be made directly by candidates on the portal.
The council warned applicants to refrain from directly contacting federal hospitals or MDCN, either personally or through proxies, including parents. It said such actions are regarded as a contravention of the Centralised Housemanship Placement System. MDCN clarified that the provisional registration certificate is issued strictly for obtaining a certificate of experience through housemanship and is valid for 24 months, within which the doctor is expected to have commenced training.
Providing further clarification, MDCN said portal updates are strictly limited to the 47 federal hospitals approved for centralised housemanship placement. It noted that each hospital has an approved number of slots based on training capacity. The council also emphasised that there is never a time when the portal is “closed” or “opened”, explaining that the absence of a hospital simply means no vacancy exists.
MDCN disclosed that vacancies on the portal are updated every four to six weeks, depending on the completion of house officers in facilities. It acknowledged heavy traffic on announced update days and said measures such as expanded server bandwidth, single user log-in, and login OTP have been introduced to manage demand.
The council further stated that 81 non-federal hospitals accredited by MDCN also offer housemanship placements, advising applicants to approach such institutions directly. It added that details of approved hospitals, how the centralised scheme works, and all accredited training centres across federal, state, private, and military institutions are listed on its website, noting that existing spaces can accommodate all inducted doctors and dentists yearly.
In a disclaimer, MDCN said it has not and will not form social media groups for housemanship placement, warning that anyone who joins such groups does so at their own risk and should not blame the council for any consequences, including disciplinary measures.
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