Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar’s Class of 2023, with Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCM-Q (centre), and other faculty members during the White Coat Ceremony held on Thursday.
Qatar’s future doctors have taken the symbolic first step towards their chosen career by donning the white coat of the physician on Thursday.
The Class of 2023 at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q), comprising 40 students including eight Qataris were inducted at the annual White Coat Ceremony held at Grand Hyatt Doha.
The event marked the traditional rite of passage where the fresh doctors-in-training first don the white coat and receive stethoscopes, the symbolic emblems of their new roles.
Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCM-Q, said that the White Coat Ceremony is one of the highlights of the college’s academic year and is a memorable and significant milestone for the trainee doctors.
“The white coat is recognised throughout the world as a symbol of compassion and healing and it gives me great pleasure to present them to our new medical students. These young people are the very future of medicine in Qatar. During their careers, they will learn new medical techniques and use technology that physicians today can only dream about,” said Dr Sheikh.
“They will innovate, they will conduct new research, and they will gain new knowledge, but some things will always remain the same; they will save lives and they will bring hope and relief to those in distress. Together with Weill Cornell’s other alumni, they will be the backbone of Qatar’s medical system, delivering world-class healthcare to all of the country’s citizens for decades to come,” he added.
The students will follow the same curriculum as that operated in Weill Cornell Medicine — New York and will be taught by both faculty at WCM-Q, and faculty in New York via video link.
As they become more experienced, they will begin training in partner institutions and will also have the opportunity to work under the guidance of experienced doctors at New York-Presbyterian Hospital – one of the world’s foremost teaching hospitals. If successful in their training, they will then receive a Cornell University medical degree.
“I’m looking forward for challenging years of learning from experienced faculty and doctors in Doha and New York,” said Hiba Naveed, who has just joined WCM-Q on the six-year medical programme, so will spend the first two years on the pre-medical curriculum.
She also said that been raised in Doha and her father being a doctor encouraged her to choose the medical profession and study at WCM-C.
Malik Mushannen who is originally hailing from Syria chose to join WCM-Q following his siblings. “I was brought up in the Gulf region and I’m very much attached to the area. WCM-Q gives a big opportunity to earn a medical degree from a reputed US medical college in the Middle East,” he said.
“I would like to serve in Qatar and give back to the society after graduating,” said Malik, who intends to become an orthopedic surgeon.
The White Coat Ceremony of WCM-Q is an opportunity to formally welcome students onto the six-year medical program, which integrates two years of pre-medical training with the four-year medical curriculum.
During the event 46 students, who have completed the two year pre-medical training were inducted, with each being presented with an ‘Ibn Sina Pin’ as Ibn Sina being one of the most significant physicians of the Islamic Golden Age.
“The two years of pre-medical training were not easy but worth it. We had the great experience of learning from experts with a high caliber. In the next four years I look forward gaining hospital experience,” said Latifa Mahmoud, a Qatari student who received the Ibn Sina Pin.
Talking about the reasons made her to choose the profession as a doctor, she said, “It gives the opportunity to make a commitment to serve people and touch their lives.”
The students and assembled audience at the White Coat Ceremony also heard from the keynote speaker, WCM-Q alumna Dr. Sarah Al Khawaja, who holds the position of chief resident, dermatology and venereology, at Hamad Medical Corporation, and is a clinical associate in dermatology at WCM-Q.
