Doctors from renowned US teaching hospitals visited Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) to hear about the college’s curriculum and meet its students and faculty.
The US doctors are responsible for residency programmes in the US, and the majority of WCM-Q students apply to such residencies once they have completed their medical degree.
The annual Residency Programme Directors’ Symposium allows the directors to learn more about WCM-Q and also gives students the opportunity to ask questions in an informal environment, ascertaining what the directors look for when accepting students into residency programmes.
Dr Marcellina Mian, WCM-Q’s associate dean for medical education, said that the annual visit by residency programme directors was hugely beneficial as it allowed the college to showcase its curriculum, faculty, facilities and its students.
Dr Mian said: “This symposium allows us to demonstrate that we are world-class and that we are producing doctors who are of the same calibre as any US medical college.” This year 13 directors visited the college, most of whom had never been to Qatar before.
The residency programme directors spent four days in Qatar, during which they learned about WCM-Q’s curriculum, its facilities and programmes. They met with the college’s student body who asked the directors about the residency programmes, and heard about the experience of WCM-Q alumna Nadia Merchant, who graduated in 2011.
The US doctors also visited Hamad Medical Corporation and toured WCM-Q’s research laboratories, learning more about the college’s biomedical research programme and its focus on diseases prevalent in the region.