More than 250 participants including teachers, school counsellors, high school students, and parents attended this year’s edition of the Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) High School Medical Conference (HSMC) hosted by the Office of Student Outreach and Educational Development on campus. 

The conference brought together highly motivated students, aspiring to become the next generation of medical leaders and interested to pursue a career in medicine. The event offered a glimpse into the life of a WCM-Q medical student and provided a valuable platform to engage educators across the entire spectrum of STEM disciplines.

 

The one-day event featured professional development workshops on several topics including steps to complete their application, reading and writing expectations in pre-med, personal statement writing tips and learning how to make the ‘learning’ stick.

In addition, a research competition allowed students to demonstrate their ability to understand and communicate complex information through a poster presentation on a research topic under the overarching themes of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Medicine Unlimited

WCM-Q’s Medicine Unlimited fair once again lined the building’s academic wing and offered prospective students and their families a first-hand glimpse into the buzzing academic and student life at the college.

WCM-Q faculty, researchers and students were also on hand to share their medical knowledge through a series of simulations and demonstrations. Visitors had the opportunity to experience anatomy lab activities, the facilities at the Clinical Skills and Simulation Lab, work at the Institute for Population Health (IPH) and attend a session on WCM-Q’s admission requirements.

HSMC activities also included an interactive quiz session, which allowed visiting students to test their knowledge and win prizes.

Pre-Medical Administration, Student Outreach and Educational Development Director Noha Saleh said that the purpose of hosting HSMC is to offer key educators and prospective students and their families valuable insight into the study and practice of medicine.

We are delighted to see so many enthusiastic young minds attend this year’s event and look forward to welcoming them as future students.

According to Associate Dean, Dr Rachid Bendriss, a career in medicine is without a doubt one of the most rewarding and noble professions a student can choose to pursue.

Dr Bendriss said that HSMC has a solid track record of helping guide talented students who have a shared interest in science to collectively explore the possibilities of a future in the field while understanding the practicalities of making that dream a reality.

We are extremely delighted by the positive response from all participants this year.

Research competition

Starting off with 61 teams, ten teams from seven schools participated in the final round of the research competition, including three teams from Jordan – a first in the competition’s history.

The winners of the competition were announced during the concluding session of the event, with Team 43 from Jubilee School in Jordan securing first place, with the topic Detecting a Pattern in the Eye Movement of Children Diagnosed with Mild Autism Using an Eye Tracking System. The second and third place went to Teams 53 and 52 from Qatar International School (QIS). The winning team received a fully funded, one-week research trip to the WCM-Q parent campus in Ithaca in the US.

Launched in 2017, HSMC is an annual event organised by the Office of Student Outreach and Educational Development at WCM-Q to bring together key educational players and students aspiring to become the next generation of medical leaders. The Medicine Unlimited fair was conceived in 2008 to provide prospective students with an opportunity to experience the academic and student life at WCM-Q.


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