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Tribune News Network
Doha
Talented high school students in eight countries were welcomed to the new Virtual Summer Program (VSP) of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), a week-long online initiative that offers a glimpse of life as a medical student at an elite university.
A total of 76 high school students from Qatar, Morocco, Kuwait, Canada, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and the UAE logged in for the five-day programme, which featured online learning classes in biology, chemistry, anatomy and disease investigation led by WCM-Q’s world-class teaching faculty.
The VSP, which was offered by WCM-Q’s Office of Student Outreach & Educational Development, also included sessions delivering information on careers in medicine, advice on how to write a personal statement for college applications, a meeting with admissions professionals and an introduction to the WCM-Q Student Research Association. There were also free-form live chat sessions at the end of each day to allow the students to get to know one another and ask questions.
The event began with an online welcome and introduction by Noha Saleh, director of Premedical Administration, Student Outreach and Educational Development. Speaking after the event, Saleh said: “Our newly launched VSP, which is part of our Enrichment Program series, gives us an extremely effective tool for reaching out to the very brightest minds from schools all over Qatar, the MENA region and beyond to show them just how exciting and rewarding studying and pursuing careers in medicine through WCM-Q can be. The students and faculty engaged with great enthusiasm and energy and created a real buzz online, which made the inaugural VSP a remarkable success - we are looking forward to receiving many high-quality applications to study at WCM-Q as a result.”
WCM-Q offers a unique fully integrated Six-Year Medical Program, which comprises a two-year pre-medical curriculum and a four-year medical curriculum. Students who successfully complete the programme receive the same Cornell University MD degree awarded to graduates of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
Student Lujin Al Mesri of the Swiss International School in Qatar said that the VSP provided useful advice about the application process and pursuing a career in medicine, and had also been very inspiring. “What I liked most about this programme was the enthusiasm of the professors and the patient case we worked on, which was like a big puzzle in which you had to use your critical thinking and problem solving skills to solve the patient’s case – for a second I really felt like a doctor.”
Dr Rachid Bendriss, assistant dean for Student Recruitment, Outreach and Foundation Programs, said: “I am tremendously impressed with the creativity of our faculty and staff in creating such a highly successful programme and turning the challenges of the current situation into opportunities. I wish all of the students who participated in this exciting new version of our Summer Enrichment Program great success as they seek to realise their potential by pursuing careers in medicine and science.”
Doha
Talented high school students in eight countries were welcomed to the new Virtual Summer Program (VSP) of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), a week-long online initiative that offers a glimpse of life as a medical student at an elite university.
A total of 76 high school students from Qatar, Morocco, Kuwait, Canada, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and the UAE logged in for the five-day programme, which featured online learning classes in biology, chemistry, anatomy and disease investigation led by WCM-Q’s world-class teaching faculty.
The VSP, which was offered by WCM-Q’s Office of Student Outreach & Educational Development, also included sessions delivering information on careers in medicine, advice on how to write a personal statement for college applications, a meeting with admissions professionals and an introduction to the WCM-Q Student Research Association. There were also free-form live chat sessions at the end of each day to allow the students to get to know one another and ask questions.
The event began with an online welcome and introduction by Noha Saleh, director of Premedical Administration, Student Outreach and Educational Development. Speaking after the event, Saleh said: “Our newly launched VSP, which is part of our Enrichment Program series, gives us an extremely effective tool for reaching out to the very brightest minds from schools all over Qatar, the MENA region and beyond to show them just how exciting and rewarding studying and pursuing careers in medicine through WCM-Q can be. The students and faculty engaged with great enthusiasm and energy and created a real buzz online, which made the inaugural VSP a remarkable success - we are looking forward to receiving many high-quality applications to study at WCM-Q as a result.”
WCM-Q offers a unique fully integrated Six-Year Medical Program, which comprises a two-year pre-medical curriculum and a four-year medical curriculum. Students who successfully complete the programme receive the same Cornell University MD degree awarded to graduates of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.
Student Lujin Al Mesri of the Swiss International School in Qatar said that the VSP provided useful advice about the application process and pursuing a career in medicine, and had also been very inspiring. “What I liked most about this programme was the enthusiasm of the professors and the patient case we worked on, which was like a big puzzle in which you had to use your critical thinking and problem solving skills to solve the patient’s case – for a second I really felt like a doctor.”
Dr Rachid Bendriss, assistant dean for Student Recruitment, Outreach and Foundation Programs, said: “I am tremendously impressed with the creativity of our faculty and staff in creating such a highly successful programme and turning the challenges of the current situation into opportunities. I wish all of the students who participated in this exciting new version of our Summer Enrichment Program great success as they seek to realise their potential by pursuing careers in medicine and science.”
