Three-Way Affiliation Agreement Signed on Oct. 11
Taking the next step to formalize the partnership initiated last spring, Weill Cornell Medical College, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Hamad Medical Corporation signed an affiliation agreement on Oct. 11 to advance and promote medical education, clinical care and research in the State of Qatar.
Present for the historic signing were Antonio Gotto Jr., M.D., D.Phil., dean of Weill Cornell Medical College; Daniel Alonso, M.D., dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar; Steven Corwin, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital; Latifa Al-Houty, Ph.D., chairperson of the Hamad Medical Corporation Board of Directors; and H.E. Turki Al-Khater, managing director, Hamad Medical Corporation.
While each partner will remain an independent entity, the agreement calls for Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) to offer its hospitals and primary health-care facilities as clinical education training centers for medical students at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. Opportunities for training and educational exchanges for clinicians, researchers and students at the three institutions will also be pursued.
"The agreement signed today will further the exchange of knowledge, the education of future physicians, and will also provide an excellent level of clinical care, as well as promote increased cooperation among the institutions in the field of biomedical research," noted Dean Gotto. "The partnership not only will greatly benefit the Medical College and its students, but also the hospitals and the people of Qatar."
"It is an honor to be affiliated with Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital," said Dr. Al-Houty. "This step further enhances Qatar's position as a center of educational excellence."
According to Dr. Corwin, the affiliation agreement assures further cooperation between clinicians and researchers. "As the University Hospital of Weill Cornell Medical College, with many chiefs of clinical services in the Hospital holding chairmanships of corresponding academic departments within the Medical College, NewYork-Presbyterian is ideally placed to work with Hamad and WCMC-Q in developing opportunities for the exchange of knowledge and training between clinicians and researchers in Doha and New York."
Commenting on the clinical education opportunities for WCMC-Q medical students, Dean Alonso noted: "This fall, our students will directly observe medicine being practiced in the Hamad General Hospital and primary health-care centers. Thereafter, they will receive much of their clinical education in HMC facilities, which offer an excellent breadth of inpatient and outpatient services."
"We are committed to providing the highest quality of care to our patients," said Dr. Al-Khater. "We welcome WCMC-Q students as they begin their clinical education, and we look forward to welcoming them back as physicians in the future."
Cheers for Inaugural Class of 2008 at First-Ever White Coat Ceremony
The White Coat Ceremony for the Class of 2008—the inaugural class at WCMC-Q—took place on Oct. 11 in Doha before an enthusiastic audience of students, parents, faculty, staff, and guests from Qatar and around the world.
The 16 young physicians-to-be, who entered the four-year medical program last month, donned the symbolic and traditional white coats with assistance from WCMC-Q medical faculty, including senior physicians at the Hamad Medical Corporation. Fourteen of the students successfully completed their pre-medical education at the Medical College, while two are graduates from U.S. universities.
Dean Gotto addressed the students, noting that they had "crossed a threshold" in their education and medical career. He also stressed that the mission of the Medical College is to train them to meet the highest standards of biomedical sciences and humanistic principles, and then invited them to listen to the reading of the Hippocratic Oath by Dean Alonso.
Dr. Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, delivered the keynote address to the assembly that also included Qatar's Minister of Finance, H.E. Yousuf Hussein Kamal, representing Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, wife of the Emir and chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development. "Medicine is not just a business, but a moral enterprise," said Dr. Cohen, who noted that the inaugural medical students were privileged to be entering the medical profession at a pivotal point in history when major developments in information technology give the medical profession unprecedented access to information. He also added that the revolution in genetics, offering the prospect of identifying disease before it is manifest, is leading the way to the practice of truly preventive medicine. The development of stem-cell research, he added, "also promises to usher in an unimaginable era of regenerative medicine."
Dr. Cohen also presented the medical students with pins from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, established in the U.S. in 1988 to promote humanism in medicine.
The Summer of 2004: WCMC-Q Students Report on U.S. Research Fellowships
Following a summer of pursuing research projects at U.S. college and university labs, 12 first-year medical students presented a summary of their experiences at the First Annual Medical Student Research Forum at WCMC-Q on Oct. 7.
Ten students worked with research teams at Cornell University in Ithaca and at Weill Cornell Medical College, while two conducted research during their undergraduate education at other U.S. universities.
"It is clear that part of the medical education mission at WCMC-Q is to have a research component as part of your education here," said Dr. Gary Schneider, senior associate dean for research at WCMC-Q, who opened the forum. Each student then gave a 10-minute presentation on projects ranging from studying the differentiation of cells in the nematode worm C. elegans by mapping a specific mutation, to studying the effects of the environmental neurotoxicant methylmercury in the hippocampus of mice.
Photos courtesy of WCMC-Q Public Affairs.