At just 16, Fahad Saad Al Suwaidi knows he wants to pursue a career in medicine — a decision he made after losing a friend to bone cancer.
"My friend was the same age as me and didn't discover he had cancer until it was in a very late stage," said Al Suwaidi, a high school student at Nasser bin Abdullah al-Attiyah Secondary Independent School for Boys in Doha, Qatar. "I want to raise awareness in the community and in schools about the risks of illness so that we can improve the health of people in Qatar."
Earlier this month, Al Suwaidi and two fellow Qatari high school students, Mai Nasser Al Subaie and Noof Ali Al Mazrooei, traveled to New York City to explore their interest in medicine as the winners of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar's annual Healing Hands essay contest. Their Doctor of the Future Scholarships gave them a chance of a lifetime: a two-week, fully funded expedition to Weill Cornell to learn about the medical profession from established physicians and scientists in the Department of Genetic Medicine.
"I heard about the award when representatives from Weill Cornell in Qatar came to my school and told my class about it," said Al Mazrooei, 14. "From that moment, I knew I had to apply because I'm really interested in genetic engineering and I'm considering pursuing a career in it "When I found out I won, I was so happy."
From July 7 through July 17, the students learned basic laboratory skills, including how to pipette, use florescent microscopy imaging, and how to culture cells and monitor cell growth. They got the chance to explore new research techniques, such as DNA restriction digests, a procedure that prepares DNA for analysis, and spent a lab session learning how to make cigarette smoke extract and why it's useful for research. They also experienced patient care, shadowing Dr. Ronald Crystal, chairman of genetic medicine, the Bruce Webster Professor of Internal Medicine, professor of genetic medicine and professor of medicine at Weill Cornell, while he conducted rounds.
From left: Fahad Saad Al Suwaidi, Dr. Ronald Crystal and Noof Ali Al Mazrooei
Now in its seventh year, the Healing Hands competition is dedicated to introducing young, aspiring doctors from Qatar to the profession, providing them with hands-on experience in medicine. The program also serves to acquaint the students with Weill Cornell, where they could be continuing their studies in a few years should they decide to pursue careers in medicine.
The essay theme for this year's competition was "Promoting Healthy Lives." The students were asked to describe the most significant lifestyle issue affecting the health and wellbeing of young people in their school or community, as well as outline an action plan to address that issue. A panel of experts from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar judged the essays and selected the three winners.
Al Mazrooei is most alarmed at the prevalence of obesity, which is as much a problem in Qatar as it is in the rest of the world. Inspired by author Malcolm Gladwell, she believes that making sports cool again will motivate children to participate in them.
"I wrote about obesity because a lot of kids in Qatar are overweight," Al Mazrooei said. "Students don't think exercise is cool so we need to change that."
While the contest winners cited different reasons for pursuing careers in medicine — ranging from family influences to being awed by seeing doctors in the movies — all three share a desire to improve the lives of others through careers in medicine.
"As a little girl, I would see my dad, a doctor, come home from work and I would think to myself that helping others is the most useful thing to do with your life," said Al Subaie, 16. "So I've decided that's what I want to do."