It is graduation day at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) tomorrow.

Some 1,189 students will be awarded degrees, diplomas and certificates in various academic fields at the university’s new campus under construction at Kihumuro, Mbarara municipality.

MUST was only the second university to be established in Uganda in 1989, joining Makerere University, which had until then existed as the sole university.

Unlike Makerere and other public universities that have since been established, MUST had a specific mandate of “science and technology” inserted in its name. Among other goals, the new university would boost the number of doctors trained in Uganda, and thus bridge the doctor-patient ratio.

MUST has, indeed, trained many doctors since it was founded, but it is disappointing to learn that 28 years later, it has only 81 students graduating with a bachelor of surgery and medicine this year.

With Uganda’s population growing rapidly, a crazy doctor-patient ratio, and a number of the few doctors trained heading out for greener pastures, MUST’s 81 doctors is a drop in the ocean.

Not that its counterparts are doing any better. Makerere University’s capacity is estimated at 93 doctors per year, Gulu University at 46 and Busitema University at 18. Therefore, all government universities combined produce no more than 238 doctors annually.

Admittedly, private universities are helping to fill the void, with Kampala International University and, more recently, Uganda Christian University (UCU) and Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) all starting to train doctors.

However, the government must take the lead in training doctors because it is not only a costly but also a sensitive undertaking. Medical schools at Mbarara, Makerere, Gulu and Busitema should be empowered to double their intakes so as to keep up with the demand for medical services in Uganda and beyond.

Besides, available resources could be consolidated in only two or three public universities that can have their medical schools strengthened and expanded, instead of scattering them all over the place.

Recent statistics put Uganda’s doctor-patient ratio at 1:24,725. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends 1:1,000. If the government can’t raise its game from the current 238 doctors per year, at the current population growth rate and brain drain, bridging the doctor-patient ratio will remain a pipedream.