As invaluable as Physiology and Anatomy– the study of human body functions and structure- are to public health care delivery, it has remained a cause for concern that most students are unaware of the job opportunities for Physiologists and Anatomists.
Students of both disciplines do not know the fate that awaits them on graduation unlike other medical professions. They don’t know where to unleash their acquired knowledge on graduation.
Instead of feeling happy and a sense of pride as they head towards graduation, they are uncertainty about their career prospects.
Why do Students study Physiology and Anatomy?
Many persons study human Physiology and Anatomy because they have interest in it and have always wanted to do so. There are some who were compelled to read it because they were refused admission to study other courses such as Medicine, Nursing, or Pharmacy due to high cut- off marks for admission into these courses.
It is common to see a physiologist/anatomist, just like others who read other courses, working in the banks, teaching in secondary schools, being in partisan politics and in other careers not having anything to do with Physiology or Anatomy. In many cases, physiologist/anatomist making a living in areas not related to their studied profession were never really interested in reading the course, but were compelled to study the discipline because of admission difficulty.
What are the Job opportunities for Physiologists and Anatomists?
- They may be employed by hospitals to provide services in various areas. A Physiologist may be involved in measurements of some critical physiologic parameters. For example spirometry, electrocardiography, audiometry, etc.
- A Physiologist may also be employed in sports academy.
- They may be needed in goods and drug industries where they can function in various capacities including production, quality control or marketing/distribution Managers.
- Those who are interested in academic responsibilities will have to obtain M.sc and PhD degrees in human Physiology and Anatomy.
- They may go back to the university to read Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, Medical Laboratory Sciences, etc depending on their interest.
- They may wish to become entrepreneurs and employers of labour there by applying their knowledge of Physiology and Anatomy in starting a business enterprise. Such enterprise may be ownership of hospitals and diagnostic laboratories, health related educational institutions and so on.
Reference
Prof. Aloamaka C. Peter: Career Options of a Human Physiologist, the Elixir vol. 1, 2018
Nothing basically to be candid… Nigeria has been consciously or unconsciously structured in a way that any field/profession without a professional body that regulates the practice cannot function in the Health system. Besides, older professions(medicine, MLS, etc) have taken over some of their positions in the hospital so no HOPE for physiologists and anatomists
What can i do with Bsc anatomy and physiology? Obviously Nothing! As we know Anatomy is often defined as the study of structures in the human body, while physiology the way in which a living organism or bodily part functions, apart from MBBS anatomist are so good in body structure, cell tissue organs and body system, though MBBS MLS Radiology and other older courses are taught this but it can not be as anatomist did.. Ideally anatomist should be able to perform their duty along side with MBBS in terms of surgery but that can not be possible because of lack of the professional body. So they ended up with teaching, lecturing etc…
You can lecture!
You can do your masters and PhD in Human Physiology, or Human Anatomy.
Impact lives in the classroom. Actually, a lot of my lecturers in those courses(especially Anatomy) were PhD “doctors”.
Cadaver room is an important place for students, the physiology lab as well.
And if you can, get a scholarship program outside the country for your Masters and Prosper mehn!
Well…I don’t know about Anatomy by you as a Physiology graduate you DA work as a Clinical Physiologist “if you get the necessary training”, as an ECG technician, Echocardiographer, Cath lab, Cardiac Physiologist, EEG/EMG scientific official, sport or exercise Physiologist/trainer, a lot of them….but that aside now
The question is does the curriculum train you to be any of the above….is obvious answer is NO…….
The obvious truth we should all know is the fact that these courses were introduced in the first place to train lecturers for med schools…that goal has been achieved but they not sure if to discard them as an undergraduate courses or not, the curriculum are not unified(ask diff students from diff Unis you will know this), No board exams, the curriculum does not give room for clinical practical classes….typical for producing “Lectures”.
Well…Orientation matters tho, you just have to know what you want and work toward it. The governing body of the two courses PSAN and ASSN are not really well concerned, the are just mere figured head bodies. The UK, US and other countries have done more for Physiologist and Anatomist in Nigeria than what this Country has managed to do for them….
Doctors are not the problem but, incompetent regulatory bodies, lack of proper orientation about the course and old curriculum.
We will just keep talking on this, my advice for you is, get trained, be focused, if you can, please get out of this country, go to a country where you are more appreciated and useful.
There is hope for Physiology and Anatomy if only those bodies do the needful.
This system has failed us.
In this part of the world with a corrupt system these professions are barely recognized.. In the outer shores a doctor has a limit to what he can do,so is a physiologist and an anatomist but here a doctor does all the work…leaving these other professions with nothing…with your vast connections I’m sure you might have met someone who says I spoke with a friend outside Nigeria and he/she said physiology,anatomy,pharmacology is a hot cake over there…while those here just want to have a B.Sc certificate because they didn’t choose the course themselves. Take for instance a larger percent of those in med school graduated from one of these courses,if there was really a future in it why did they continue…I know it will get to a time that doctors will look for work and not get it cos the number of doctors in this country will supersede DAT of the hospitals… These professions only have a chance outside Nigeria.
Nope. I disagree strongly at the end.
You saying a find will come when doctors will not have jobs is very wrong.
As a doctor you can have an hospital in your home or even take care of people. Besides you don’t have to rely on your degree alone
I love this person… let’s be blunt…not that Biochemistry is better ooo but we can work in a whole lot of places cos we don’t study only human Biochemistry…we study plants, animals and microorganisms…we get drilled in chemistry and microbiology so we can apply our course into different places aside the health system…thank God our scientific body is trying to make the course professional so that we can start working in places we ought to… And there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to avoid but I’ll just say it…. Nigerian doctors killed BMS courses in Nigeria….In other countries, we see old professions helping the new ones gain ground… There are many legendary Biochemists that I can point out in the US or UK that did their undergraduate studies in MBBS… In fact, one of the most popular stuff you’ll learn as a Biochemistry student…Kreb cycle/TCA cycle… Kreb was a medical doctor…Those doctors almost completely dropped the core of medical practice and help to build other fields…Dr Fleming, the man who discovered penicillin is widely regarded as medical microbiologist and not a doctor…there are so many like that in different fields of BMS… But Nigerian doctors always exploit the tenderness of BMS courses…many of them have PG in those courses and are working in their fields… MLS suffered a lot before they got their professional licence…. though they are doing the same to other courses but I can’t blame the totally cos they went through a lot… that’s why they are trying their possible best to chase out doctors out of the lab…With my degree in Biochemistry, I can easily get a job in a good hospital in the US. In the UK, I can switch to biomedical science by just doing a 1 year course or a MSc or I can just do a training (6 months) and be registered in HCPC…in Canada, I’ll just write CACB board exams and I’ll practice….In the US sef, there’s Association of analysts(I’m not sure about the name)… it’s a board that regulates biological/chemical scientists and their practice in the medical field…I can go on and on…but what has Nigerian doctors done for growing fields that have very big importance in medicine…what do they do instead, they suppress them cos they want to claim the head…in advanced countries, every medical personnel knows the Doctor is the head of hospital and doctors also know that without others, they are nothing so they work hand in hand… that’s why sometimes I don’t pity them when the fail biochem in the MBBS exams…cos all they’ll do after passing it is open their mouths and say Biochemistry is too easy…too easy to be a field on it’s own…and I’m sure that’s why our lecturers are strict with the marking… The strictness and the questions and even the syllabus they give to them sef is very simple compare to what our lecturers give us… simple flow charts they give to them as biochemical pathways
Ever wondered why health care abroad is better than health care in Nigeria?
It’s because doctors abroad “know their place” anatomy and physiology and other paramédical courses are professional courses on their own
You can’t compare someone who studied anatomy for 3 years to one who did it for less than a year in total or a year… I feel the system is the problem… Paramedics and medics work together to achieve good therapy
While it is true they are bagging BSc of all of them they can’t categorically say they are professionals in all of them they need those who did more like an in depth study to make some clinical decisions… if the paramédics weren’t important then I don’t think the courses would be studied separately