By Fazeena Saleem
Doha: Never before in the history of medicine have such a multitude of scientific, technological, and demographic factors converged to revolutionise the whole approach to human health, according to Dean Javaid I Sheikh at the Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q).
“WCM-Q is blazing the trail in global medical and health education. We are preparing the healthcare leaders of tomorrow — excellent clinicians and outstanding physician-scientists who will undoubtedly contribute to the advancement of science and medicine across the globe,” says Dr Sheikh.
WCM-Q was established by Cornell University in partnership with Qatar Foundation, pursuant to an agreement signed in January 2001.
WCM-Q is part of Weill Cornell Medicine, which was founded in New York City over 100 years ago, and shares the same mission, to provide the finest education possible for medical students, conduct research at the cutting edge of knowledge, improve health care both now and for future generations and provide the highest quality of care to the community.
This is the first time their MD degree course has been offered outside of the US. Qatar needs home-grown experts in all fields and one of the most important is undoubtedly medicine. By teaching the next generation of doctors, WCM-Q is not only helping to provide high-quality healthcare for the people of Qatar, but also creating the future medical leaders – the people who, with their expert knowledge, may go on to occupy senior ministerial roles.
This year WCM-Q has 291 students enrolled at the college, just over 30 percent of whom are Qatari.
Mohammed Al Hijji is one among the best samples WCM-Q has produced in the past years. He graduated in 2011, has had great success. Following his training at WCM-Q he went on to be accepted at two of the world’s most prestigious teaching hospitals, completing a residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital before taking a cardiology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. In 2013, along with other researchers, he was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology for the study ‘Non-HDL Cholesterol, Guideline Targets, and Population Percentiles for Secondary Prevention in a Clinical Sample of 1.3 Million Adults’.
To produce best future medical leaders, WCM-Q has faculty members who are committed to excellence in teaching, research, patient care, and to the advancement of the art and science of medicine. As of January WCM-Q has more than 60 faculty as of January 1.
With an aim to further enhance the quality of education, one of the most significant changes to WCM-Q’s curriculum has been the introduction of the six-year programme. Prior to September 2015, students would spend two years on the pre-medical course and then have to apply to join the four-year medical program. Now, students who matriculate into the college and meet the required promotion standards will seamlessly pass into the medical curriculum proper.
Weill Cornell Medicine in New York launched its new curriculum in fall 2014 and refinements are being made for the 2015-16 academic year. WCM-Q educational leaders are taking advantage of these refinements and are now busy adapting the new curriculum to our context for implementation in the fall of 2016. Some changes made in New York for students in their clinical years have already been adapted and put into effect on the Doha campus.
Further details of WCM-Q programs can be viewed on http://qatar-weill.cornell.edu/
Annual Costs:
Tuition will be the same as that in effect at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. For students entering for the academic year 2015-2016 in the Pre-Medical Curriculum, the amount has been set at $48,880. Tuition fees for future academic years will be posted when available.
Application Fee:
The application fee is QR180 (approximately $50).
Changes in Annual Costs:
Tuition and fees are subject to change in step with those of the main campus.
‘Need-Blind’ Admissions and Student Financial Assistance:
Cornell University selects students on merit only. This principle is known as ‘need-blind admissions’. In other words, the Committee on Admissions screens, evaluates and either accepts or rejects students without knowledge of their ability to pay. Accepted students seeking aid must apply to Qatar Foundation who have developed a need-based financial assistance program.
The Peninsula
