Four Qatari high school students are set to visit top research laboratories in the US after winning a contest run by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) recently.

 

Fahad Saad Al Suwaidi, Mai Nasser Al Subaie, Najlaa Abdulaziz Al Thani and Noof Ali Al Mazrooei entered and won scholarships in WCMC-Q’s annual Healing Hands Essay Competition, which this year had the topic ‘Promoting Healthy Lives,’ said a statement.

 

The four will go on a two-week, fully-funded summer trip to visit prominent research laboratories at WCMC in New York and spend time with distinguished Weill Cornell physicians in major New York hospitals.

 

Dr Rachid Bendriss, assistant dean for Student Recruitment, Outreach and Foundation Programs, said: “The winning students really do have the opportunity of a lifetime to experience something that money genuinely cannot buy. They will meet and talk to world-class researchers and academics in professional laboratories. I believe they will find it a truly inspirational experience that will encourage them all to forge a career in medicine and the wider scientific world.”

 

As many as 54 entrants from 18 schools submitted essays that were then judged by a panel of experts from WCMC-Q. 

 

Mai Nasser Al Subaie of DeBakey High School for Health Professions, was one of the four winners. She wrote about health issues that are problems within the Qatari population including diabetes and obesity.

 

The death of a friend from cancer inspired Fahad Saad Al Suwaidi, who attends Nasser bin Abdullah al-Attiyah Secondary Independent School for Boys, in his ambition to be a doctor. He said he was looking forward to learning more about the medical profession and what studying at a medical college would be like during his trip to New York.

 

Najlaa Abdulaziz Al Thani, who attends Al Arqam Academy for Girls, wrote about people’s dependency on social approval. 

 

“I think it’s a recurring theme in the Gulf – eating disorders, anorexia, depression, they all go back to peer pressure in society. Every time I talked about these issues with people it always came back to society,” she said.

 

The annual competition is open to Qatari students currently enrolled in high schools. The summer research scholarship also covers the travel cost of a parent escort who will accompany the students during their travel to New York this summer. - TradeArabia News Service