What It's Really Like To Be a Doctor

For their winning essays, Chantelle D'Mello (left) and Nadia Hussain
(right) were flown to New York to explore personalized and genetic
medicine under the guidance of Dr. Ronald Crystal (center) and other
mentors.

Through time in New York City laboratories and hospital wards, two local high school students began to realize their dreams of being doctors.

In June, two talented local high school students—Chantelle D’mello and Nadia Hussain—won top awards for their entries in this year’s WCMC-Q “Healing Hands: Making a Difference” essay competition. The win meant a trip to New York for two weeks, an experience designed to bring to life the ideas they had written so carefully about.

“Through this experience, we want the students to know what it’s like to be a physician scientist,” said Dr. Ronald Crystal, professor and Chairman of the Department of Genetic Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. “The experience involves an overview of what it’s like to work in the lab, and also what it’s like to be a physician.”

Dr. Crystal was one of about a dozen mentors who worked directly with the students during their time at WCMC-NY. Over the two weeks, the students were immersed in laboratory work, clinical rounds and detailed lectures.

“I was most surprised by the great attention to detail that was shown by our mentors,” Hussain said.“Despite the large amount of clinical information they are working with, they showed us that even the smallest piece of information is ofhuge importance and must never be overlooked—like finishing a complicated jigsaw puzzle, every piece matters.”

Putting it to the test: D'Mello and Hussain put what they learned in
lectures and presentations into practice in the WCMC labs.

To gain a sense of the latest frontiers of medicine and how being a doctor will impact their lives, D’Mello and Hussain attended gene therapy and personalized medicine lectures as well as a discussion on death and dying. Add this to a tour of an intensive care unit, cell biology core lab, and a walk through medical rounds at New York Presbyterian Hospital’s medical intensive care unit, and these high school students gained a solid sense of what the life of a doctor entails.

As a new feature, this year’s essay competition involved the theme of research, and both students elaborated on this in their writings. In New York, they spent several days in the lab, learning techniques and working with equipment and samples to analyze genetic information. Combined with the lectures on genetic therapies and personalized medicine, the lab work gave the students a chance to see how health care progresses, from investigation to application.

By the end of their time, D’mello and Hussain—both local grade 11 students at Qatar Academy and El Eimman Independent School, respectively—not only learned laboratory techniques, but also presented what they had learned at a Genetic Therapies lab meeting.

“These two weeks gave the students a sense of what it’s like to be a scientist—hands-on molecular biology, and presenting to your colleagues—and I think that’s a valuable experience,” Dr. Crystal said.

Chantelle D'Mello and Nadia Hussain's first-hand experience in genetic
analysis brings them one step closer to their goal of becoming doctors.

The students think so, too.

“For high school students like me, who have always wanted to be doctors, this trip is the best experience ever. It has made me so impatient to finish school and start medical school so that the day that I can begin to help the people in Qatar will be here quickly,” Hussain said.

“Healing Hands Making a Difference” is just one of the many ways in which WCMC-Q is reaching out to Qatari high school students. The essay competition—in which students are asked to write focused ideas about their desire to be a doctor—represents the Medical College’s significant investment in Qatar’s future as it promotes deep thinking about the field of medicine among local high school student participants.

Report by Emily Alp