‘Why veterinary doctors, others must take professional oaths’

It is now statutorily mandatory for graduates of Veterinary Medicine, Medicine and Pharmacy to be administered practice oaths before allowed to practice by their professional associations.

This was disclosed by the Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, Prof. Maduike Ezeibe when the university’s ninth set of Veterinary Medicine Doctors were administered professional oath of practice by the Veterinary Council of Nigeria (VCN). 

Prof. Ezeibe also said that it is consequent upon this legal mandate that institutions that produce such graduates organize for the pre-practice oath administration.

“This is because graduates of Veterinary Medicine, Medicine and Pharmacy are by law, allowed to handle all medicines, including poisonous ones hence they are made to swear that they would use their knowledge/skills and every material/instrument in their possession for good (not harm) of mankind”. 

According to him, the mandate of Veterinary profession is to ensure good health of animals in order to provide wholesome food for man and to break disease-transmission chains and so protect man from diseases that could come from animals.

In his address, the university Vice Chancellor, Prof. Francis Otunta through his Deputy (Academic Affairs), Prof. Maduebibisi Iwe charged the graduates to move into the field with confidence and put to optimal use the knowledge and skills they acquired in the course of their training to provide solutions to the myriads of problems facing the animal health and livestock industry in Nigeria.  

Administering the oath on the 32 graduating Veterinary Doctors on behalf of the VCN, the Acting Registrar Dr. Josaih  Kantiyok welcomed them into the profession saying  that the oath administered on them qualifies them to practice and reminded the university to do the needful in readiness for another accreditation exercise due next year.