INTRODUCTION
Ibadan medical school has finally turned into a hub of “local men”. With the introduction of the “breakyourownnews.com “ app,most medical students can be seen parading on social media ,breaking their own news with the phrase “Local man “ as part of the headline. Even the well to do medical students among them now consider themselves local men. Apparently that is what Ibadan medicine does to you. It reduces you to the local man.Most UIMSAITES, have been asking the same question for the past one month, “Who is a local man?”


DEFINITIONS OF A “LOCAL MAN”
“A “local man” according to UIMSA press, can be defined as a human being, regardless of sex or age, who is a medical student, and has not been able to come to terms with the demands of his/her chosen career”
A “Local man” can also be defined as a medical student, who despite all the rigours and demands of medical school, still manages to stay sane and be happy.
A Local man who refused to disclose his identity, defined “Local man” as a medical student that never gives up on medical school. He advised all medical students to be “local men”, especially those of them that are going to be the first doctors from their community. He was quoted saying;
“The local man will one day become a local champion in his community”

HISTORY OF THE LOCAL MAN
The exact origin of the phrase “local man” cannot be exactly ascertained but it can be traced back as far as some months ago when a certain reporter of the UIMSA press heard his colleague in the 2k18 class lament during one of the ward rounds, after standing for hours. He lamented saying;
“Oti sun mi o, local man is tired”
On another occasion, he was heard saying to another colleague during a ward round,
“Where is betha”s meal, local man is hungry”
It can be assumed that the local man syndrome that has now hit the 2k18 class and is now spreading like wildfire on whatsapp statuses of medical students in Ibadan medicine and in other medical schools, started with a certain young man who got tired in a ward round in one of the postings. Efforts to reach out to this young man to confirm the origin of the phrase has proven abortive as the local man is always on the run.

THE LOCAL MAN SYNDROME/PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF A LOCAL MAN
The “Local Man Syndrome” according to an erudite local man, can be defined as an acute exacerbation of some signs and symptoms by medical students in response to stress which can be emotional, psychological, mental, as well as financial. He went further to explain that every medical student is a local man, but there comes a point in the life of a medical student when he/she cannot take it anymore and he starts exhibiting these sequence of signs and symptoms lasting for at least a week and this is what is now called the “local man syndrome”
He however stated explicitly that a true local man never gives up and always goes back to his normal state of local health. He advised all medical students to stay true to their locality.

CAUSES OF LOCAL MAN SYNDROME

-MB timetables
-End of posting exams
-Delayed allowance from home
-Broken heart
-Prolonged ward rounds
-Hunger during ward rounds
-Case write-ups
-Prolonged stay in clinic
-Released results
-Inadequate sleep before exams

TREATMENT OF THE LOCAL MAN SYNDROME
-Local men diagnosed with the local man syndrome are advised to keep calm and be reassured that it is going to pass and that they will be fine in the end.
-Local men are advised to take break when they can and at the appropriate time.
-Local men are also advised to call home and ask their community to pray on their behalf, as these are very trying times.
-Local men are advised to SMILE always, as smiling alleviates the signs and symptoms
-Local men diagnosed with the syndrome are advised to always look for the light at the end of the tunnel because in the end, “only GOD can safe them, me sef,I dunno woh is gowing on”


Written by Napoleon Tejiri