School students explore careers in medicine at WCM-Q programmes

A total of 84 high school students took part in the Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar’s (WCM-Q) two online summer programmes.

The week-long intensive Pre-College Enrichment Programme (PCEP) and the Qatar Medical Explorer Programme (QMEP) offered by WCM-Q’s Office of Student Outreach & Educational Development were designed to give students with an interest in medicine a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by a career as a physician-scientist. Both programmes provided the participants with online learning sessions on the experiences of current WCM-Q students, with classes in biology, chemistry, pharmacology, anatomy, disease investigation, medical research, patient-physician dynamics, and medical ethics. There were also sessions on study skills, time management, writing personal statements, applying to medical school, and careers in medicine, as well as an introduction to WCM-Q’s state-of-the-art Clinical Skills and Simulation Lab and a reading workshop. The PCEP also included a presentation exercise, in which the students formed groups and researched a medical topic throughout the week before presenting their findings on the final day of the programme. A total of 56 students completed the PCEP, while 28 completed the QMEP, with students hailing from a total of 34 schools. Noha Saleh, director of premedical administration, student outreach, and educational development said the students demonstrated exceptional talent and motivation for learning about medicine and becoming physicians. Minatullah Alani of Qatar International School, the student speaker for the QMEP programme at the closing ceremony, described the exercise as insightful, engaging and exciting. "Studying the anatomy of the heart in exceptional detail really helped consolidate my decision to go into medicine, and the careers and admissions sessions gave me the final push I needed to start my application process.” Dr Rachid Bendriss, associate dean, Foundation, Student Outreach, & Educational Development, said the standard was very high and the online format once again proved extremely effective at providing students with rich learning experiences and an accurate impression of what life as a medical student was really like.