News and Media

Renowned medical residency program directors visit WCM-Q

WCM-Q faculty with residency directors from leading US academic health centers and teaching hospitals.
WCM-Q faculty with residency directors from leading US academic health centers and teaching hospitals.

Esteemed residency program directors from leading US teaching hospitals and academic health centers visited Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) for a week to view the facilities, learn about the curriculum, and offer career development advice to students.  

Established in 2013, the week-long Visiting Professorship Program (VPP) is an annual initiative that brings leading figures in medical education and healthcare to WCM-Q in order to establish strong links between the college - a Qatar Foundation member - and other preeminent medical institutions around the world.

This year’s VPP brought nine residency program directors to WCM-Q from nine leading US medical schools: Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, Duke University School of Medicine, Penn State College of Medicine, the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine, St. Vincent Women’s Hospital, the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Rush University Medical Center and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The visiting professors are directors of residency programs specialized in internal medicine, radiology, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, rehabilitation and neurology.

While in Doha, the visiting professors toured the state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities at WCM-Q, Hamad Medical Corporation and Sidra Medicine, held round table discussion and advice sessions with students, viewed research posters created by students, exchanged ideas with WCM-Q faculty, and watched presentations about the clinical clerkships offered at WCM-Q.

Dr. Rayan Elkattah of the OSF St. Francis Medical Center/University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria at WCM-Q for the Visiting Professorship Program.

Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development at WCM-Q, said: “We are delighted to welcome such esteemed professors to see the quality of the medical education we offer here at WCM-Q and to share their wisdom and experience with our students. It is extremely helpful for medical students who are planning the next phases of their careers after graduation to hear from residency directors who can offer them extremely valuable advice about which specialty will suit them best, how to create strong applications and what skills and attributes they should focus on developing.”

During the trip, the professors also toured Education City, watched a presentation about the work of Qatar Foundation and visited the National Museum of Qatar and Souq Waqif.

Dr. Rayan Elkattah, director of the obstetrics and gynecology residency program at the OSF St. Francis Medical Center/University of Illinois College of Medicine in Peoria, was visiting WCM-Q for the first time. Having studied medicine at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, Dr. Elkattah was intrigued to learn about the medical education on offer at WCM-Q. Speaking at a feedback session with senior WCM-Q faculty at the conclusion of the VPP, he said: “As someone who is familiar with the region, I was very interested to learn more about WCM-Q and its mission to establish an elite medical school in the Gulf. I have to say that I have been extremely impressed by the facilities, the faculty and perhaps most of all by the students, who all demonstrate great knowledge, confidence and enthusiasm for learning. It is clear they are receiving an excellent medical education here; if they have the opportunities to travel to the US for residency training and return to serve their home communities in Qatar, it will be of huge benefit to the entire Gulf region.”

Dr. Peter Marcus of St. Vincent Women’s Hospital speaks with a medical student during the Visiting Professorship Program at WCM-Q.