In Nigeria, an early career doctor (ECD) is a medical or dental practitioner in the early phase of their professional career post-graduation. This includes house officers, resident doctors and medical officers below the rank of principal medical/dental officer (PMO/PDO). This term is more widely used in Nigeria compared to the junior doctor in the United Kingdom and Australia. Although Junior Doctors may seem synonymous with ECDs, ECDs embraces more cadres of doctors than junior doctors especially as it is in the UK or Australia. They may be engaged in training or non-training position at this point in their professional development. Those in training positions while rendering service include House physician or house surgeon and resident doctors. While medical officers and senior medical officers or the dentistry categories are in the non-training position. Generally, this period usually spans about the start of a career to fifteen years depending on the path an early career doctor chose for their professional development. The overarching organisation of ECDs in Nigeria is the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors(NARD) which was formerly called National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria(NARD), an affiliate of Nigerian Medical Association(NMA). It has 74 branches domiciled mainly in Federally and State-owned Teaching Hospitals, Specialist Hospitals and Public health institutions of the Federal Capital Territory. History of nomenclature The term ECDs recently had a surge in popularity especially with the use of the term in the Challenges of Residency Training and Early Career Doctors in Nigeria (CHARTING) study which is a large multi-centre and multidisciplinary study in Nigeria to explore ECDs related themes. Also in recent publications by NARD. The earliest use of the term in literature was by Milne et al. in 2013. Interestingly it was the United Kingdom where term such as Junior doctors is more pervasive. While the later also occasionally used in Australia and in these two locations are essentially describing medical trainees whether interns or residents doctors and excludes dental practitioners. Union NARD is the largest affiliate of the Nigerian Medical Association and is in some quarters regarded as the militant wing of the medical profession. This probably stems from her various roles over the years advocating and fighting for improved welfare of doctors and the health profession as a whole. There is no gainsaying that the medical profession taps into and relies on the energy and vigour of this group of relatively young men and women.