Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) has introduced its new intake of students to life at the college with a week of orientation exercises.
The fresh cohort of students accepted to WCMC-Q’s Foundation and Pre-medical Programs spent four days taking part in a variety of sessions designed to help them acclimatize to their new surroundings before studies begin in earnest.
The orientation programme featured daily icebreaker sessions to help the new students get to know one another, demonstrations of how to use WCMC-Q’s digital library, and advice about key study techniques and time-management skills. The students also received their new laptops, learned about the college’s computer services and were advised about academic integrity, before the week culminated with a treasure hunt and murder mystery evening on the final day of the program.
Dr Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCMC-Q, offered words of encouragement to the new students.
“It is always extremely gratifying to see a new intake of students join the college,” he said. “They bring with them a great deal of talent, intellectual curiosity and a desire to work hard that permeates throughout the entire college and serves as an inspiration to all of us here at WCMC-Q.
“I am sure that each and every one of our new students will take full advantage of the opportunities available to them at the college, not just in terms of learning from our world-class faculty, but also by joining some of the many clubs and societies that make such an important contribution to the culture of WCMC-Q.
“I look forward to seeing them grow and develop both as people and as students, and I wish them all the very best in their new endeavour.”
WCMC-Q’s year-long Foundation Program is aimed primarily at Qatari high school graduates and provides students with intensive coaching in the basic sciences and English language skills in preparation for the Pre-medical Program.
This year a total of 21 students are enrolled on the Foundation Program, of which 17 are Qatari. Fifteen of the Foundation students are female and six are male.
The Pre-medical Program is a two-year course of study that students must complete before they can be accepted onto a medical program. This year there are 43 students on the first year of the Pre-medical Program, comprising 24 female students and 19 male students. There are 14 Qatari students enrolled on the first year of the Pre-medical Program. Taken together, the 112 students on the Foundation Program and the first and second years of the Pre-medical Program represent a total of 20 different nationalities.
The orientation exercises also gave the students the opportunity to visit the Hamad Bin Khalifa University Student Center and Katara Cultural Village, and to enjoy an evening of Arabic food and entertainment. The new students also contributed to community events by serving food at a lunch for maintenance and catering staff, and by helping to gather and pack items donated to Qatar Charity’s Tayf Program.
These occasions were a great help to newly enrolled Qatari Foundation student Hissa Al Hail.
She said: “Orientation has been a great opportunity to meet other students, not just on my course but also some of the pre-med students who know the college quite well already. We are all just amazed and so happy to be here, and for me this is like a dream come true – I’m so proud and excited to be a student here.”
Australian Pre-medical student Sabiha Khan said that a desire to improve healthcare in the developing world had inspired her to train as a doctor.
“There is a shortage of doctors worldwide but the need in the developing world is particularly acute,” she said. “I am motivated by an interest in the sciences and the personal satisfaction I will gain from understanding medicine, but what really drives me is that I want to make a difference to the lives of people who currently don’t have access to the healthcare they need.”
The Peninsula
