International exchange medical students’ internship at QU Health

The Qatar Medical Students Association (QMSA) in the College of Medicine at QU Health, Qatar University (QU), launched medical student exchange programmes in both professional and research exchange. QMSA, in co-ordination with the International Federation of Medical Students Associations, welcomed three students from Belgium, Slovenia, and Croatia, who selected a research project with Dr Susu Zughaier, in QU’s College of Medicine to pursue their internship and learn about antimicrobial resistance. The visiting international students had the opportunity to interact and learn alongside local medical students at the College of Medicine. This proved to be a very enriching experience for both the international and local students through an exchange of experiences, perspectives and views.The visiting students experienced the Problem Based Learning (PBL) educational module, a new concept for them as they receive traditional lecture-based teaching at their universities.Third year students Nika Perko (Croatia), and Laurens Martens (Belgium), as well as fifth year student Martin Rigler (Slovenia) joined Dr Zughaier’s lab. Two other students joined Hamad Medical Corporation clinics for professional exchange in the ER and internal medicine rotations. Dr al-Zughaier stressed the importance of the programme noting its value for any academic institution as it enriches the students' learning experience for different curricula and cultures alike.The visiting international students gained intensive research experience at Dr Zughaier’s lab where they learnt about antibiotic resistance mechanisms and testing methods. They also learned about tissue culture techniques used to investigate host-pathogen interactions. Finally, they attended PBL sessions with local medical students and a medical microbiology resource lecture.