Graduation ceremony honors Class of 2016

There are 33 new physicians in the world today following the graduation of WCM-Q Class of 2016.

The 33 new doctors join the ranks of 223 other alumni of WCM-Q, who are currently working at hospitals in Qatar and around the world, curing disease and helping their fellow Man. The latest graduates received their Cornell University medical degrees in front of an audience of family, faculty, staff and friends during a ceremony on Wednesday at Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Center at Education City.

They will now join residency programs in Qatar and the US where they will specialize in their chosen area of medicine, or take up positions in research laboratories.

Dr. Javaid I. Sheikh, Dean of WCM-Q, paid tribute to the students. Dr. Sheikh said:

“Graduation is the highlight of the academic year and it is the culmination and a celebration of everything that we strive for. It gives everyone at WCM-Q great pleasure to be able to address these young, talented people, as ‘doctor’ for the very first time.

The Class of 2016 have demonstrated great commitment to their studies, intellectual curiosity and compassion for their patients. These qualities will continue to grow and develop as they progress through their careers and I am sure that many of them will return to Qatar to work in hospitals here, sharing their wisdom with future generations and so contributing to the knowledge-based society being created under the provisions of Qatar National Vision 2030.

Everyone at WCM-Q is confident that these new doctors will be wonderful ambassadors for the college and Qatar, demonstrating to the wider world that the country’s leadership is committed to excellence in education and unlocking human potential.”

Student speaker Sally Elgazar began her speech by thanking His Highness the Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani; His Highness the Father Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, for their continued support. She also thanked the faculty and staff of WCM-Q, the physicians and employees of Hamad Medical Corporation and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and, of course, the families and friends who have supported the students through their time at WCM-Q.

She then imagined the future lives of her fellow graduates and reminded them to always keep the patient at the center of their work. Dr. Elgazar said:

“It was Ghandi who said that science without humanity is one of the seven roots of evil. Similarly, medicine without empathy is the most basic reflection of that.

So, let’s place ourselves in a patient’s shoes. Place our mothers or fathers, sons or daughters in that situation. Would we like ourselves, our parents, our children to be treated with the compassion and empathy they deserve? Or would we like our physicians to be self-involved, frowning, and glowering at us while performing the most basic service?

If there’s anything I can guarantee, it’s that we’ll all be patients at one point or another. We’ll all need that empathy. And we’ll all have a myriad of compassionate and alternatively indifferent doctors.

So be what you would prefer yourself, your parents, and your children to have.”

Watching the students receive their medical degrees and take the Hippocratic Oath were Her Excellency Dr. Hanan Al Kuwari, Minister for Public Health, and Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, Dean of WCM - New York.

Dr. Glimcher told the students to always focus on their patients and to always strive for new knowledge. She said:

“Whether you end up working at the bedside or in a lab, becoming an ophthalmologist or an orthopedic surgeon, remember that the patient is always the motivation for your efforts—and your source of inspiration.

And as you gain specialized skills, technical expertise, and a deep base of knowledge, never stop trying new things or asking questions. Be creative in finding ways to help your patients. Set yourself on a path of discovery - to learn more about yourselves, about science and medicine, and about the world. Take the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to heart: ‘Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail’."