Doha

The new Medical College, scheduled to open at Qatar University (QU) in September 2015, is to enrol both male and female students, who will take some courses in a segregated environment and others in a co-educational set up.

“Efforts will be made to attract Qatari students to pursue careers in medicine with support for also enrolling long-term expatriates,” QU revealed in a statement on Monday.

The College of Medicine, the plan for which was approved by the Board of Regents of QU during its meeting on October 30, will enrol up to 50 students in its first academic year (2015-2016).

It will offer a six-year programme, which leads to a Doctor of Medicine degree (MD). Male and female students will attend general courses in other colleges - such as biomedical sciences, chemistry and others - in a gender-segregated environment, while specialised courses and clinical teaching will be offered jointly.

The design of the new Medical College building will emphasise societal values by providing gender-segregated leisure facilities.

During the meeting, the Board also approved the College’s organisational structure, its budget, and the appointment of Dr Egon Toft as vice president for Medicine and Health and dean of the College of Medicine.

The medical education programme will combine coursework and clinical learning. Students will be working with patients in a clinical setting from the first year while medical sciences coursework will extend throughout the course of the study in an integrated way.

Clinical teaching will be arranged in co-operation with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) as well as other leaders in the healthcare sector in Qatar.

The programme will also benefit from collaboration opportunities with important partner programmes within QU such as pharmacy, biomedical sciences, nutrition and public health.

“The establishment of the College (of Medicine) addresses the need for Qatar-trained physicians and medical professionals and will make invaluable contributions to strengthening the healthcare and education sectors in Qatar overall,” Dr Toft said.

“Communication and interactive programmes will be implemented with schools in Qatar with the aim to encourage students – in particular Qatari students -- to pursue a career in medicine,” he explained.

Dr Abdulatif al-Khal, member of the steering committee for the College of Medicine at QU and deputy chief of staff for Graduate Medical Education at Hamad Medical Corporation, said the College aims to attract highly competitive students, and outstanding local and international academics.

“The classes will be highly focused on delivering a high quality education leveraging the most advanced learning systems. Students need to achieve a high standard that allows them to meet the requirements for moving smoothly in their undergraduate studies and on to residency or fellowship programmes at HMC and other healthcare systems in Qatar and abroad in order to prepare them for their professional lives as highly competent and independent physicians.”

Dr Asmaa al-Thani a member of the College steering committee, head of the Department of Health Sciences at the College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Biomedical Research Centre at QU, said the aim is to create a sustainable source of highly qualified physicians to serve the needs of the Qatari healthcare system.

“We need to attract more Qatari students to pursue careers in medicine, and also to support long-term expatriates interested in pursuing the profession, in order to contribute to the rising demand for locally rooted family physicians. This will not happen overnight but an important first step has been taken and I am confident that Qatar University has what it takes to make this promising project a great success.”

The second phase of the implementation plan for the College begins immediately when the new members will join the College’s Steering Committee, including leaders and experts from QU, HMC and PHCC.

In addition, a new member from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in the US will be appointed to QU College of Medicine’s international advisory board.