Qatari high schoolers complete WCM-Q summer scholarships in US

Qatari high school students who were awarded research experience in some of the world’s top laboratories after winning WCM-Q’s Healing Hands essay competition returned to the college to speak about their experiences.

Back in May, four high school students were judged to have written the best essays out of a large number of submissions and were awarded the fully-funded, two-week Doctors of the Future Scholarships to spend time at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and Cornell University at Ithaca, upstate New York. 

This year’s winners were Aljohara Salem Al-Marri (Al-Eman Independent School for Girls), Fatima Mohammed Al-Naimi (International School of London-Qatar), Jassim Ahmed Al-Mansoori (The English Modern School) and Imaneh Qaedi (Al-Eman Independent School for Girls).

Having completed their summer scholarships, Jassim, Aljohara and Imaneh returned to WCM-Q to give reports about their experiences. 

The Doctors of the Future Scholarship was launched in 2008 and is organized by WCM-Q’s Student Recruitment and Outreach office, part of the Division of Pre-medical Education, with the aim of giving promising Qatari high school students the chance to explore the possibilities of a career in medicine. 

This year’s program was the first to feature a week in Ithaca; previously, students spent the full two weeks at Weill Cornell Medicine-New York. Dr. Krystyna Golkowska, WCM-Q’s associate professor of English, designed the new Ithaca program to give the students an idea of what it is like to study for an undergraduate degree and to acquaint them with Cornell as an institution. During their stay at Ithaca, the students attended lectures on a wide range of subjects and enjoyed experiential learning sessions such as visits to Cornell’s veterinary hospital and to real, working laboratories. 

The students then travelled to Weill Cornell Medicine-New York where they spent a week in the labs of Randi Silver, associate dean of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and professor of physiology and biophysics, and Stefan Worgall, distinguished professor of pediatric pulmonology and chief of the Division Of Pediatric Pulmonology, Allergy And Immunology. At the end of the week, the students presented their results to the lab teams. While in New York the students also toured NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, one the best academic medical centers in the United States. 

Imaneh said the scholarship had been “truly inspirational.” 

“It was a really great experience,” she said. “The most interesting thing for me was going on rounds in the clinic, getting to talk with patients and having the doctors explain the different cases to us. They showed us CT scans and explained the differences between healthy and abnormal physiology, so we got a real insight into what it’s like to be a practicing doctor.

“I have always wanted to study medicine and become a doctor - the scholarship experience has helped show me the way. I’m so glad I had this chance. ”

Jassim said: “I enjoyed the experience so much, especially the lectures, which were really interesting. Since I got back I have been inspired to read and learn as much as I can about a wide range of subjects, from DNA and how it replicates through to theories about addiction. The whole experience was very intellectually stimulating.”

Each of the students was presented with a certificate of participation at a ceremony attended by Dr. Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCM-Q, Dr. Marco Ameduri, associate dean for pre-medical education, Dr. Rachid Bendriss, assistant dean for student recruitment, outreach and foundation programs, Noha Saleh, director for student recruitment and outreach, and Dr. Krystyna Golkowska, associate professor of English.

Dr. Golkowska said: “We were extremely impressed by the aptitude and enthusiasm of the students. They worked extremely hard, were open to every new experience, and always had smiles on their faces. I am confident that if they applied and gained acceptance to WCM-Q, they would make excellent students.”

She added: “We were also very pleased that the students were enriched by the newly created visit to Ithaca and we have plans to continue this next year.”

Dr. Sheikh said: “We are extremely happy that our Qatari scholarship students responded so positively to the experiences they had in the US. They were excellent ambassadors for their high schools, for WCM-Q and for Qatar. We hope that they will continue their journeys as scholars of science and we welcome them to apply to study here with us at WCM-Q so that they can become physician-scientists able to serve their community.”

The topic of this year’s essay competition was ‘Technology in Medicine: Promise and Peril’. Aside from the winners, six students received honorable mentions. These were: Mohammed Khalid AlKuwari (Qatar Academy), Aisha Yousef AlJaber (Amna Bint Wahab Indpendent School for Girls), Bashayer Hmmaid Al Mansour (Al-Resala Independent School for Girls), Saad Salah Bahzad (Al Jazeera Academy), AlHanoof Hamad AlJalahman (Qatar Academy), and Sheikha Mohammed Almannai (Al-Resala Independent School for Girls).