Qatari high school students win WCM-Q Healing Hands essay contest

Four ambitious high school students have won two-week scholarship experiences at the annual Healing Hands essay competition of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q).

Students Ahmed al-Sulaiti and Maryam al-Thani of Qatar Academy Al Wakra, AlDana AlDehaimi of SEK International School Qatar, and Tameem al-Maadeed of The International School of Choueifat-Doha each won the WCM-Q Doctors of the Future scholarship for having written the best 800-word essays on the potential of precision medicine to improve health in Qatar. A further 11 students won honourable mention certificates in recognition of the high quality of their essays. The four winning students will spend two weeks on an educational trip to the US.The contest, run by the Office of Student Outreach and Educational Development at WCM-Q, is open to Qatari students in grades 10 and 11. The programme is designed to inspire young nationals to think about careers in medicine and biomedical science. Many previous winners of the Healing Hands contest have gone on to join WCM-Q as students.In her essay, winning student Maryam al-Thani wrote: “A common misconception is that precision medicine is time-consuming. However, Qatar’s technology streamlines the data analysis process, making precision medicine more practical by reducing the time, energy, and expense by reaching effective prognosis the first time instead of using a trial and error approach, rendering Qatar a suitable country for this innovation.”Noha Saleh, director of premedical administration, student outreach and educational development, said: “I offer my warmest congratulations to the four winners of the Healing Hands essay competition and I hope they will find their trip to Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and Cornell University to be a source of great inspiration and motivation to them on their journey to become the doctors of the future.”The following students received honurable mentions for their essays: Aisha Mohamed al-Nuaimi, Fatima Mohamed AlKaabi and Roudha Khaled al-Shamali of Hayat Universal Bilingual School; Amna Abdulla al-Meraikhi of Qatar International School; Baina Saeed al-Marri of Al Arqam Academy for Girls; Essa Mubarak al-Buainain, Laila Khalid al-Ansari and Maryam Zayd al-Jedea of Qatar Academy Al Wakra; Mohamed Ali al-Tamimi of DeBakey High School for Health Professionals at Qatar; Talal Almarri of Swiss International School in Qatar; and Tameem Mohamed al-Abdulqader of Qatar Science & Technology Secondary School for Boys. Dr Rachid Bendriss, associate dean for foundation, student outreach and educational development programmes, said: “The standard of the essays entered into this year’s Healing Hands contest was very high and we were extremely impressed with the sophistication of the arguments the students put forth.”