Dr Prosper The Philosopher

Yesterday, a doctor DM'd me about my last article, He's at a crossroads: psychiatry residency as a route out of Nigeria, or private practice. Here's my advice to him. 1. Don't stay a medical officer. 2. Go into residency, and choose your specialty deliberately. 1. DON'T STAY A MEDICAL OFFICER The most stagnating thing you can do as a doctor is stay a medical officer too long. Unless you want a life outside clinical medicine (advisory work, content, media, medtech, a different lane entirely), there is no upside to it in Nigeria. You sit near the bottom of the CONMESS scale, just above house officers. You work like a general practitioner or primary care physician, as hard as any resident. You learn no new skills, and your pay grows slowly. The real jump comes at consultant level, and that requires fellowship. If you plan to build your career here, residency is the move. There should be no debate about it. 2. ABOUT PSYCHIATRY I assume you chose psychiatry because you like it. That's a fair reason. But go in with open eyes. The skills: - It has no surgical or procedural component. You manage patients more than you "treat" them. - Psychotherapy training is thin. In one survey of Nigerian psychiatry trainees and early-career psychiatrists, under 3% had completed psychotherapy training during residency. If you go this route, factor that into choosing your training centre. The business: - The upside is real. Patients come back, and trust builds over time. - But it scales poorly. In a country with so few psychiatrists, you can't easily hire others to replicate you, no matter how much capital you have. - Converting patients is hard. An estimated 70% of mental health care here is handled by traditional and spiritual healers. - Most patients pay out of pocket. Over 90% of Nigerians have no health insurance. The upside of the specialty: - If you love it, the consultant route is a solid path. Academic posts in a medical school or teaching hospital are another route to the consultant cadre and its pay scale. So if you love psychiatry, do it. But understand that you won't have a private-practice edge here. 3. PSYCHIATRY AS A WAY TO EMIGRATE First, decide which country. I'm only covering the US and the UK. The US: It doesn't recognise your Nigerian fellowship. You repeat residency in a US programme regardless. When people call a specialty "IMG-friendly," they mean it tends to accept many foreign graduates for training spots, not that your fellowship helps you. If the US is your goal, be open to whatever specialty you match. A Nigerian psychiatry fellowship won't be the shortcut you hope for. The UK: There's a real chance your fellowship counts. NHS clinical fellowship posts list FWACP among accepted qualifications. There's also the CESR, a route that lets overseas-trained specialists apply for the GMC specialist register and consultant-level jobs without restarting UK training. It isn't automatic, since your portfolio is assessed, but it's a real path. If the UK is your final destination, a residency here can help. Either way, be realistic about why you'd go. The gain may be less financial than people assume. The real prize is often safety and quality of life for you and your family. 4. IF I WERE YOU I'd reconsider my choice of specialty. I'd look for a residency that gives you three things: - A surgical or procedural skill. - Portability: something you can do with little hospital dependence. - A definitive skill: you treat the problem yourself and don't refer it out. Think urology, dermatology (mostly clinical, with a procedural side), ophthalmology, or plastic and cosmetic surgery. These let you build a private practice that actually scales. Don't spend more time as a medical officer unless you want a life outside medicine. Go into residency now. If you love psychiatry, do it knowing you won't have a private-practice edge in Nigeria. It can help if the UK is your destination. It won't help for the US.

Med X rewards your expression of frustration. From medical students to doctors. Once you post about how a path and pharm is killing you or how your job wants to take your life, everyone will like and repost. It's an ill omen because most students and doctors can relate more with negativity than anything else

You don't apologize for ragebaits hope you know. You shouldn't. You ride on the wave of hate you created because Twitter people don't forgive. Chai Small insult you don fold. It's not easy to be me Sha.

If you want to grow your account with ragebaiting med twitter. You should consult me first. Nobody does it better than me. That being said. It's medicine students who think they're on the same level as we dentistry students. Get your facts right. Not all Drs like night shifts

Let me tell you the reality of failing 2nd MB. You write your MB examin, let's say Anatomy You submit your paper and walk out of the examination hall with a sad face, convinced that you've failed. You feel you've fought the battle and probably lost because you barely knew what you were writing. The funny thing is that you don't realise there are still 30 marks left on the table. You haven't done your steeplechase or your soft-tissue identification practicals, which account for 20 marks altogether. You haven't also done your viva, which carries another 10 marks. Whatever happened in your written examination, you still have an opportunity to earn those remaining marks. But you've already concluded that the battle is lost. Your confidence is gone, and you return home behaving as though nothing can be done. Instead of sitting down to learn as many anatomical structures as possible in preparation for your steeplechase, you give up. You don't make an effort to understand the soft tissues you'll be expected to identify. You don't prepare for your viva. You simply leave everything to fate. A few days later, you show up for your steeplechase and do whatever comes to mind. You haven't made any extra effort to prepare. You might get 5 out of 10. In your soft-tissue identification practical, because you don't know what you're doing, you might get 3 out of 10. Then you go into your viva equally unprepared. But the viva is actually going to help determine whether you have a chance of passing. One thing you should understand about viva examinations is that your lecturers have already seen the scores you've accumulated before you enter. They are trying to save some students. If you understand body language, you can tell if you failed or passed from the Viva. You can tell a lot from the way a lecturer interacts with you during your viva. You enter the room, and the lecturer begins asking questions. You struggle to answer and start saying things that have little or nothing to do with what you're being asked. The lecturer isn't even looking at your face. Your interaction lasts about five minutes, and you're told you can leave. In such case, there's a high chance that you failed. Sometimes you may actually be just a few marks short of passing. The lecturer is giving you an opportunity to demonstrate what you know, he'd keep asking you more questions even when you're failing the ones he asked previously but you're not helping yourself when all you're doing is saying rubbish. God helps some of you to pass in this case but many don't know On the other hand, imagine you've already accumulated about 60-something marks before the viva and are on your way to getting a distinction. You enter the room, and the lecturer asks for your name with a smile. The interaction is different. The lecturer wants to have a conversation with you because your previous performance has already shown the work you've put in. They may even admire your hard work. If you understand body language, you can tell there's a high chance you passed in this case. Many claim that their Viva was a friendly interaction not knowing that it was their scores that made it friendly. This isn't peculiar to Anatomy. The same thing applies to Biochemistry and other MB examinations. You need to understand that the main examination is not the end. Depending on the course, the written examination may account for 40–60 marks, while the practicals and viva contribute another 20–30 marks. You've spent the last 18 months preparing for the main examination, but you cannot afford to spend only two weeks preparing for your steeplechase, practicals and viva. The examination isn't over when you submit your written paper. There are still marks available, and you need to make an effort to earn them. Stop allowing a disappointing written examination to destroy your confidence. Prepare for the remaining assessments. You may still have a chance to save yourself.

Dr Ose blocked me because I told him the truth. Donye blocked me because I told him the truth. Most of your faves on this app can't take criticism because you rather famz them than tell them the truth. I, Prosper. I can never block you. You need to see me become great

The first time I wrote JAMB was in 2020. I was 16 years old and in SS3. I scored 274, a very good score that could have given me admission to study Dentistry in UNN then. At the time, I didn't even know what Dentistry was. About a month after the examination, my father died. That completely destabilised my plans of going to university. I didn't know then that the next few years would become some of the darkest periods of my life. I wrote JAMB for five more years before eventually getting into medical school. Sometimes, I sit down and wonder what my life would have been like if I had gained admission the first time I wrote JAMB. If I had gone to UNN to study Dentistry with that score, I would have been in my final year set by now. If I had gained admission into another school that accepted 274 for MBBS, I would probably be in final year today. During those five years, I had actually gained admission into university. But I quickly realised that there was no other course that would appeal to me outside one that will make me a clinician. I had to write JAMB again, even while I was already in 200 Level, because I couldn't simply switch courses. There was no money to facilitate the change, and I learnt that switching courses is not as advertised. Today, I have classmates who were in JS2 when I was in SS3. Most of my classmates in secondary school have already graduated, while I am still working towards becoming a clinician in my early twenties. But I sometimes feel that this is still the best path for me. I've learnt a lot about JAMB, university admissions and navigating the Nigerian education system. The experience also taught me how to write and exposed me to skills and interests I might never have developed under different circumstances. One thing I have come to realise is that creativity does not come from comfort. Pressure forces you to think differently, become innovative and learn things you might otherwise never have considered. Many of the difficult circumstances I encountered were what made me develop the skills I have today. I may not be at the same stage as everyone else in my age group, but I have gained experiences and abilities that I probably wouldn't have acquired otherwise. Sometimes, I wonder whether I would be the same person today if I had gained admission to study Dentistry in 2020, with my father still alive. I would probably be a final-year dental student at UNN or somewhere else. But I wonder whether I would have developed into the person I am today. I have thought about this experience many times, and I have a lot of advice for students preparing to write JAMB. There are things I learnt the hard way about admissions, course selection and navigating the process that I would like to share. If you're preparing for JAMB, follow me. I have a lot to share with you.

If you're a medical student at UNN, take this seriously. What saved me in my Biochemistry second test was a compilation of past questions I stumbled upon. You know the Biochemistry second test is largely METAB. This isn't something you can master effectively in a few weeks. It takes months of preparation. However, I didn't open my first carbohydrate metabolism slide until I saw the exam timetable which was three weeks before the examination. This examination traditionally consists of 15 essay questions to be answered in three hours. When I saw the timetable, I knew I was in trouble. I hadn't read anything or understood the topics. I knew I couldn't start reading all the slides, learning the pathways, understanding the reactions, practising the essays and drawing the necessary diagrams within three weeks. The only realistic option was to find past questions and work with them. I searched through compiled drives and eventually found different files containing Biochemistry past questions from 2002 to 2024 More than 20 years of UNN past questions! There was one problem: the compilations were messy. Many questions papers were blurred, poorly arranged and scattered. I spent tens of hours organising them. I separated the questions into four categories: 1. Carbohydrate metabolism 2. Lipid metabolism 3. Amino acid metabolism 4. Nucleic acid metabolism and molecular biology. I created four separate PDFs and began studying the questions. Because the compilation contained almost 200 questions from different years, I gained three major advantages. 1. I identified the most frequently tested questions across the years. 2. I covered almost 90% of the testable facts in metabolism through the questions. 3. I learned how to write the answers in the expected essay format, including the necessary reactions and diagrams. Then came examination day. I walked into the examination hall expecting 15 questions, only to discover that there were 25 questions to answer in the same three hours. Despite the unexpected change, the practice I had acquired from working through the past questions helped me tremendously. By the time the examination ended, I had answered about 22 questions. Perhaps not all of them perfectly, but I was able to perform far better than I would have otherwise. I still have those PDFs, including the MB past questions contained in the compilation. I also separated questions from other Biochemistry topics taught in the third semester, including xenobiotics and haem degradation. There are nearly 60 questions from these topics that have appeared in previous MB examinations. These are valuable materials, and I think other students should benefit from them. I initially felt like keeping them to myself, but I don't want to be someone who hoards useful resources when other students could benefit from them. If you want the PDFs, comment below. I'll send them to you.

Someone called me a hungry boy for charging ₦200 to bring students together and teach them AI skills. One thing I've noticed about Nigerians is how classist we can be. Even when someone makes an effort to make something valuable affordable and accessible to everyone, people still find a way to look down on it because of the price. We've developed this mentality that anything valuable must be expensive. But price and value are two different things. A cup of water costs almost nothing, yet it is one of the most valuable things you can have. A bottle of expensive wine can cost millions of naira, but that doesn't make it more valuable than water. The same applies to transportation and accommodation. You can meet basic needs affordably, but luxury comes at a premium. I don't understand why people assume something must be expensive before it can be worthwhile. In this case, we are not selling AI skills. We are bringing students together to learn how to use AI and other technologies to improve their studies and develop useful skills. The ₦200 fee is simply a screening fee to help ensure that participants are genuinely interested in taking the programme seriously. Here's what we'll be learning at Book Cocaine: - How to use AI to understand difficult concepts and lecture materials. - How to analyse lecture slides and extract important information. - How to turn lecture materials into MCQs and essay questions. - How to use AI to practise for your actual examination format. - How to build active-recall systems around your courses. - How to create text-based and image-based flashcards. - How to use Anki for repetitive learning and revision. - How to study anatomy using illustrations, diagrams and AI-assisted explanations. - How to build anatomical glossaries and organise unfamiliar terminologies. - How to use AI for research, information retrieval and academic productivity. - How to write effective prompts and get better results from AI tools. - How to use AI to create images, videos and other digital content. - How to use technology to work smarter and improve your productivity. - How to develop useful soft skills and digital skills beyond your academics. These are practical skills drawn from the things I have explored, learnt and shared on this account. As a student in 2026, if you still don't understand how to use AI to improve your study methods, you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. The technology is already changing how people learn, work and solve problems. I would rather make these skills accessible to students than package them at ridiculous prices simply to make them appear valuable. If you're interested, click the link below and join Book Cocaine👇 wa.me/2349060918024?text=Hel…

I've not seen any MBBS XX on this app beautiful enough to warrant the fooling some of our medical brothers do in their DMs. This app is full of average looking women, it's quite funny some people look for a partner on here

I remember when everyone on med X we're cursing me out that I'm "just" a jambite who hasn't entered medical school. Today they're saying I'm "just" a 200 level dentistry student. Very soon they'd say I'm "just" a general dentist who just graduated last year. And with God on my side, one day in the future I'd get to that place where my achievements will be so much that they can't describe me with "just" in front of it .

I learned today that in my school MB Fail 2/3. No resit. You step down. Fail 3/3. No step down. You're withdrawn. You're only eligible for step down if you passed 40 in the 3 you failed. Resit are for only those who failed 1/3. Stakes are chilling.

When I returned from my physiology 2nd incourse last week, I wasn't satisfied with my performance. I was also broke. My next examination was only a couple of weeks away, and I wanted to subscribe to X Premium so I could return to posting on Twitter. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford it, and the new Twitter subscription options no longer offered the basic Premium plan I previously used. When I got back to my hostel that evening and checked my phone, I noticed that ₦8,500 had been credited to my account. I had no idea who sent the money and wasn't expecting any transfer from anyone. I was excited. After enjoying the surprise, I decided to use the money to purchase X Plus of N7425 through Google Play. However, the subscription wasn't activating. I had paid, but the blue tick wasn't showing, and I still couldn't access the Premium features. I immediately lodged a complaint with Google Play, which began reviewing my request that evening. I went out, attended to a few things and returned to my phone. Then I saw a WhatsApp message from someone explaining that they had mistakenly sent ₦8,500 to my account. The person wanted to know whether I could return the money and sent me the transfer receipt and their account number Honestly, my first instinct was to block the person. I had already used the money to purchase my subscription, I was broke, and I desperately wanted to return to Twitter. I wasn't happy about having to part with the money. But after thinking about it, I decided to check whether I could get a refund for the failed subscription. I did some research and discovered that I could request a refund through Google Play because the Premium features hadn't been activated. I proceeded with the refund request, although I hadn't responded to the person who contacted me. By the following morning, I received a refund of ₦7,425. I immediately sent the money back to the person, using the account details and they had provided. The person simply replied, "Oh, nice." I won't lie. Part of me felt like a fool for returning the money. I kept thinking about how I could have finally had my blue tick, especially after being broke and struggling to afford the subscription. But I am still grateful that I returned it. I believe that what is yours is yours, and what isn't yours isn't yours. If something belongs to you, it will find its way into your hands. You don't have to hold on to what belongs to someone else just because you have an immediate need for it. A few days ago, I eventually purchased X Premium again. The blue tick still hasn't appeared though. Looking back, I'm glad I made the decision I did.