Alumni Inspiration

Dr. Khalid Al-Khelaifi, who graduated in 2008, became the first WCM-Q alumnus to join Aspetar as an orthopedic surgeon specialized in sports medicine when he took up his new post in 2018. Dr. Al-Khelaifi, who also specializes in knee and shoulder arthroscopy and reconstructive surgery, and in upper and lower extremity general trauma, completed his residency training in orthopedic surgery at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At McGill, Dr. Al-Khelaifi was one of the chief residents in the orthopedic surgery department and a member of the Resident Teaching Committee. He completed a fellowship in sports orthopedics at Henry Ford Hospital (Wayne State University), in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

2014 WCM-Q graduate, Dr. Emad Mansoor has won the prestigious Fellows-in-Training Award at the meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, held at the World Congress of Gastroenterology event in Orlando, Florida. He has been recognized for his research which found that patients with eosinophilic esophagitis, a debilitating autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the esophagus, are nine times more likely to have celiac disease than the general public.

During the course of 2012, Dr. Al-Khafaji was selected for the prestigious American Society of Hematology’s 2012 Trainee Research Award. The purpose of the award is to expose trainees to hematology and research early in their careers with the hope of inspiring them to pursue hematology in their future research training.

Class of 2015 graduate Dr. Ayman Al-Jurdi was named Intern of the Year on his internal medicine residency program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Al-Jurdi was awarded the prize in recognition of his knowledge, mastery of the program material, and his dedication to his patients and the medical students he teaches. Impressively, he was chosen for the award from a cohort of approximately 50 residents.

WCM-Q alumna Dr. Haya Ahram has been awarded a prestigious prize in recognition of her commitment to teaching and her compassionate treatment of patients and their families, students and colleagues. Class of 2013 graduate Dr. Ahram, who serves as a family medicine doctor in New York, competed her residency in family medicine at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, University of Connecticut, where she received the Arnold P. Gold Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award and was inducted as a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

Class of 2010 alumnus Dr. Anas Abou-Ismael has published his first novel, entitled A Melody of Tears: Sorrows of Syria. Written over two years, the book tells the story of Waleed and Sireen, a young Syrian couple whose burgeoning love for one another is threatened by the eruption of the country’s devastating civil war.