PROF. A. O OMIGBODUN

PERSONAL STATEMENT

After my undergraduate medical training at Ibadan, during which I was the recipient of several prizes for academic achievement, I had my postgraduate professional residency training in Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University College Hospital Ibadan, culminating in the award of the Fellowship of both the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS) and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (FMCOG). After completing specialist training, I joined the academic staff of the University of Ibadan in 1988. Since then, I have been the recipient of several merit-based scholarships and fellowship awards including the International Women’s Health Coalition Training Fellowship in Colposcopy & Management of Cervical Pathology in 1990 and the Audrey Meyer Mars Clinical Oncology Fellowship of the American Cancer Society, 1992. I was awarded the American Society of Reproductive Medicine Prize for Distinct Contribution to Science for the Best Poster Presentation at the 52nd Annual Meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, November 1996.

My research activities have largely been in the area of Gynaecological Oncology with a particular focus on the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer but when I was a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, between 1993 and 1997, I studied the molecular mechanisms of placentation in an effort to understand embryo implantation and its relationship to how cancers of placental tissues develop.

Collaborations in Medical Education are now the major focus of my attention, with particular emphasis on better postgraduate training and research as a means for enhancing the quality of basic medical training. As Provost of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan, I led the effort to prepare a new undergraduate medical curriculum in line with modern trends in the 21^st century. Being the Chief Co-coordinator of Courses at the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) since 2002 has enabled me to have a significant input into shaping the nature of postgraduate surgical training in the West African sub-region.  I am now the President-Elect of WACS and my assumption of the presidency of the College in 2015 will provide a bigger platform for me to help shape postgraduate professional training in West Africa and beyond.

I have led the West African Biomedical Education Network, a partnership of six Universities participating in a programme to enhance the teaching skills of the academic staff of undergraduate schools of Medicine and allied health professions in the Anglophone countries of West Africa, since its formation in 2008. The network commenced a Masters’ degree programme in Biomedical Education on a distance-learning platform at the University of Ibadan in 2009.

In June 2010, I was elected the first Chairperson of the Board of Management, Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), a group consisting of nine universities and four research institutes located in seven countries in West, East and Southern Africa, allied with universities and research institutes in Australia, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The Consortium is currently pioneering a paradigm shift in doctoral degree training in Africa and the strengthening of research capacity in population and public health issues in participating African institutions and countries.

Positions and Honours

Current Positions

1988- Consultant Obstetrician & Gynecologist, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

1997- Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.

2002- Chief Coordinator of Courses, West African College of Surgeons

2003- Chairman, Editorial Board of DOKITA journal, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan

2010- Chairman, Board of Management, Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa.

2012- Member of the Governing Council, Osun State University, Osogbo, Nigeria

2013- 1^st Vice President/President-Elect, West African College of Surgeons

Previous Positions

1992-1993     Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association, Oyo State, Ibadan

1999- 2010    Editor, Tropical Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology

1999-2011     Member, International Agency for Cancer Research HPV Prevalence Surveys Study Group

1999-2003     Secretary, Faculty of Obstetrics & Gynecology, West African College of Surgeons

2000-2006     Hall Master, Alexander Brown Hall, University of Ibadan, UCH, Ibadan

2002-2006     Chairman, Senate Curriculum Committee, University of Ibadan, Ibadan

2003-2007     Chairman/Chief Examiner Faculty of Obstetrics & Gynecology, West African College of Surgeons

2006-2010     Provost, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan

2006-2010     Member, Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria (Professional Regulatory Agency)

2006-2010     Member Education Committee, Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria

2006-2010     Member Medical & Dental Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal, Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria

2006-2010     Member [in attendance] of the Governing Council, University of Ibadan

2006-2010     Member, Finance & Management Committee, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan

2006-2010     Member Board of Management, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan,

2010-2011     Member Board of Management, Osun State University Teaching Hospital, Osogbo

Honours

May & Baker Prize – Best overall performance at the Part I MBBS Examination, University of Ibadan, February 1977

Anatomy Departmental Prize, Medical School, University of Ibadan, February 1977

Biochemistry Departmental Prize, Medical School, University of Ibadan, February 1977

Oyo State Government Merit Scholarship, July 1977

Adeola Odutola Travelling Fellowship – For outstanding scholarship and contribution to community life at the University of Ibadan Medical School, 1979

Faculty Prize – Best overall performance at the Part I Fellowship Examination, Faculty of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, West African College of Surgeons, April 1986

Faculty Prize – Best overall performance at the Part I Fellowship Examination, Faculty of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, May 1986

International Women’s Health Coalition Training Fellowship in Colposcopy & Management of Cervical Pathology, August 1990

Audrey Meyer Mars Clinical Oncology Fellowship – The American Cancer Society, 1992

American Society of Reproductive Medicine Prize for Distinct Contribution to Science for the Best Poster Presentation at the 52nd Annual Meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, November 1996

Osun State Honour Award for Contributions to the Science & Practice of Medicine, Osogbo, September 2010

Fellow, Nigerian Academy of Science, Lagos, January 2012.