If nothing else , One more quality Medical College will be in a MuslimCountry!
Doha branch for leading US varsity(CORNELL)
MEDICAL SCHOOL OPENS NEXT YEAR
By Pratap John
QATAR will have a world-class medical college next year with the New
York-based Cornell University setting up a branch campus in Qatar, the
first one outside the US for the renowned 136-year-old American
university.
Bringing Cornell’s medical college to Doha is the Qatar Foundation for
Education, Science and Community Development, established in 1995 by HH
the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and led by his wife, HH
Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad.
A report from New York said last night the first premedical class for
the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar is scheduled in March 2002
and the first medical programme class in 2004.
Officials of Cornell said in a statement Qatar has agreed to spend
$750mn, including a fee from the New York-based university, over 10
years on the project that will give a full Ivy League degree to medical
students.
“This agreement is a first in Cornell’s 136-year history, and in fact, a
first for US higher education,” Cornell University President Hunter
Rawlings said in a statement.
US universities, including business schools trying to keep up with trade
globalisation, are increasingly broadening their reach by offering more
faculty and student exchanges with overseas institutions or through
long-distance courses over the Internet.
But Cornell will be the first to establish a branch offering a complete
medical education based on the same admission standards and curriculum
as the New York campus. Qatar does not have a medical college and the
statement said it would be established in Doha, with the first students
entering in 2002.
The Weill Cornell Medical College, formerly known as Cornell University
Medical College, is among the world’s leading clinical and medical
research centres.
Cornell will control the curriculum, the faculty and the admission of
students in Qatar.
Students will have to take the same tests and meet the same standards as
those in New York. The agreement between Qatar Foundation and Cornell
calls for 70% of the students to come from Qatar.
The 101 students in this year’s class were chosen from 6,344 applicants
and had an impressive 3.7 grade point average (GPA) on their science
courses in the college.
“Our foundation and Cornell chose each other for this historical
project,” HH Sheikha Mozah said. “We have a shared commitment to
quality, and to building an institution that will endure for
generations”.
Welcoming the agreement, Dr Abdullah Abadi, HMC medical director, said
the Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha would be one of the finest
medical institutions in the world.
“We do not have a medical institution in Qatar now. Our students now go
to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Ajman and other places for their medical
education”, Dr Abadi told Gulf Times last night.
He said the Minister of Public Health, HE Dr Hajar Ahmed Hajar, is
currently in New York to finalise the agreement.
Students from Qatar - both citizens and residents - and from other
countries, especially from the Gulf region, are expected to be admitted
to the medical school according to the requirements followed by the
parent college, adds Qatar News Agency.
Cornell’s new medical college in Qatar is the latest of several
ambitious projects initiated by the Qatar Foundation for Education,
Science and Community Development.
During the past six years, the foundation has redefined the standards of
quality for education in Qatar by building prestigious primary and
secondary schools. The Weill Medical College in Qatar will provide the
central position for a planned education city within Doha.