MEDICAL-EDUCATION AND PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE IN NIGERIA - THE SOKOTO-UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE

Despite the acknowledgement and adoption of the Alma-Ata declaration b y majority of the countries of the world as a strategy for achieving H ealth For All, medical educational systems often remain as ivory tower s from the health service system. This traditional system of medical e ducation does not adequately prepare doctors in developing countries f or their expected leadership role in meeting the health needs for thei r communities through primary health care. In Nigeria, primary health care forms the basis for an official health policy aimed at meeting th e health care needs of the entire population particularly those in the rural areas. This article, while highlighting the need for integratio n of medical education and the primary health care services, also exam ines the structural relationships between the two components at the So koto University in Nigeria, a West African country with one of the old est medical educational system in the area.