Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) has announced a restructuring of its curriculum that will see its premedical and medical programmes integrated into one cohesive six-year medical education programme.

As a result of this integration, students will no longer have to go through a separate admission process to make the transition from the two-year premedical programme to the four-year medical programme. Instead, a single admission process will determine entrance to a six-year medical education programme and students will progress through the course according to advancement criteria, which include academic performance, professionalism and commitment to the profession of medicine, said the college.

Students who successfully complete the six-year programme are awarded the Cornell University Doctor of Medicine degree – the same qualification awarded to Cornell students who complete their studies in the US.

Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCMC-Q, said: “This important innovation preserves the content, academic rigor and quality of our highly regarded premedical and medical programmes, while providing additional flexibility to our students and at the same time advancing their preparedness for the medical profession.”

He added: “We are moving into a new era of both medicine and medical education, characterised by extremely rapid scientific development and increased specialisation. As such, we have fine-tuned our curriculum in order to offer the highly individualised support and education required to produce doctors who are able to excel in the fast-moving, technologically advanced world of 21st century medicine.”

One of the aims of the integrated programme is to build upon and enhance WCMC-Q’s already strong reputation for producing medical graduates who are able to gain acceptance to post-graduation residency training programmes at elite hospitals all over the world. WCMC-Q graduates have placed on residency programmes at top-level institutions that include Johns Hopkins Hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Cleveland Clinic and Hamad Medical Corporation, among many others.

Students at WCMC-Q benefit from a wide network of academic and personal support mechanisms, which allow the college to offer a personalised education that meets the needs and interests of each individual.

Sheikh added: “We believe these measures will result in an extremely high level of academic performance and a high retention rate of students through the six-year programme. This is a very exciting time for WCMC-Q and we are looking forward to seeing our next intake of students flourish on the new six-year medical programme.”

The students who are applying now to the WCMC-Q premedical programme will automatically be reviewed for admission to the new, integrated six-year curriculum. – TradeArabia News Service