Doha, November 09 (QNA) - On behalf of HH the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Thani, who is also Chair of Qatar University (QU) Board of Regents, HE Vice-Chair of QU Board of Regents Sheikh Dr Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani inaugurated today Qatar University College of Medicine (QU-CMED).
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a number of Their Excellencies Ministers and senior officials from Qatari health sector.
As the organization's eighth college, CMED was established in 2014. The establishment of the College addresses the increasing need for Qatar-trained physicians, and supports the country’s growing healthcare sector and national strategies in healthcare and education.
In his opening remarks, HE Minister of Public Health Abdulla Al Qahtani applauded the large number of Qatari youth who enrolled in the College of Medicine, and highlighted the high-quality education the College offers, and which is aligned with the highest international standards and best practices.
His Excellency also highlighted the unlimited support given by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to education and health sectors.
"Qatar University is a key partner in driving forward the healthcare sector by providing the wider community with high-qualified professionals who will contribute to support the country’s healthcare sector and increasing need for healthcare providers. Building a global health system contributes to offering integrated health services which require well-qualified human resources who are equipped with the necessary skills, knowledge and capacities to shape a cadre of national professionals who will provide high-quality health services, in line with the goals of Qatar Vision 2030. There is no doubt that Qatar University, which is Qatar's national university, plays a core role in achieving national strategies in healthcare and education," His Excellency said.
QU President Dr Hassan Al-Derham said: "The main task of this College, which we all attach great hopes for is the graduation of qualified national medical doctors, according to global curricula and standards, which are designed to meet the specific needs of Qatar. This requires a qualitative shift in several ways, perhaps the most important is the student learning methods, which should qualify them to adapt to a learning system that requires a large degree of autonomy and self-learning ability and working in a team, as well as learning based on problem-solving and collective learning and other methods of modern medical education.
"The College of Medicine puts the quality of education and its impact on the overall impact on the College outputs from the scientific and professional sides at the top of its priorities, with the aim of making medical education with all its components and elements reach a comparative level of international standards, and in order to graduate doctors who are able to achieve the best performance and proper exercise of the medical profession, whether inside or outside the country." He added: "The elements of the quality educational process for the College are not limited to the curriculum and teaching, but also cover aspects of leadership and management, and educational goals, and strategies, and technological and non-technological methods, and content. These elements also include faculty, and students, and methods of student assessment, and the available resources, and evaluation of the educational program, and international arbitration, and continuous development. All of this in line with the priorities and needs of the healthcare sector in Qatar." Dr Al-Derham also noted that the College intends to adopt the approved standards of quality in the field of medical education for the bachelor degree as set by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) for the undergraduate stage. "Also in post-graduate stage and continuing medical education stage, the College will adopt the international standards of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as a basic reference in the design of the curriculum and determining the clinical skills of graduates", Dr Al-Derham said, adding, "The College will also apply the US standards of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) with the assistance of external reviews from this committee to make sure that the College programs match the approved standards." Dr Al-Derham also pointed at the "quality assurance committee, and evaluation of programs, and academic accreditation", which follows up on all matters relating to the development of the academic side of the College, particularly quality assurance procedures, effectiveness, and their impact on the program, and identifying appropriate indicators of reference and comparisons, and overseeing the accreditation process for the College, and activating the continuous development program for faculty members in order to entrench the principles of quality assurance.
CMED’s International Advisory Board and Johns Hopkins Medicine International VP of Academic Affairs and Professor of Medicine and Physiology Prof Charles Wiener said: "One of the reasons that so many people inside and outside Qatar are excited about this College is its vision to train physicians to serve the needs of the country. But while the program is designed around the specific context and priorities of Qatar, successful graduates will be competitive to enter the best medical institutions in the world for their residency training. This is exactly what many of us believe should be the future of international medical education -- developing high-quality schools and clinical training programs that attract local students who are committed to improving the health of the country through clinical care, education, and research, following international standards and measures of competence." CMED student Mohamed Adam Bosa said: "The College of Medicine has the mission to lay the foundations now for tomorrow’s doctors, the first cohort of which will be graduating in 2021, projecting the needs of the healthcare system and of society for future physicians. My colleagues and I dream that Qatar becomes a destination to get the latest and most advanced healthcare treatment from the best doctors. This is why we are here, and this is the reason why we want to become not only future doctors but also the leaders in promoting Qatar’s healthcare sector."
Ministers of Education, Administrative Development Hail Inauguration of QU College of Medicine
Doha, November 09 (QNA) - HE Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Al Hammadi, Minister of Education and Higher Education and Secretary-General of the Supreme Education Council, has hailed the inauguration of Qatar University's first national College of Medicine, which will graduate Qatari doctors who will be an add to the healthcare sector in the State of Qatar.
Talking to reporters following the inauguration ceremony, His Excellency lauded Qatar University's launch of medical profession as an important step in the right direction to meet the needs of the state in all areas and qualify high-level national cadres, especially that the QU College of Medicine is well-equipped.
He revealed a plan to establish a scientific school in the secondary school stage that teaches medicine and engineering disciplines in order to qualify students to enter the colleges of medicine and engineering, adding that some independent schools teach medical subjects to help students who want to enroll later in this college.
For his part, HE Minister of Administrative Development Dr Issa Saad Al-Jafali Al-Nuaimi, in a statement to reporters, said such accomplishments, including the opening of the College of Medicine is an important achievement to meet the needs of the State of Qatar.
He pointed out that there are directives by HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and HE Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani to focus on labor market needs in the public sector and encourage young people in this area.
His Excellency pointed to financial grants extended to Qatari students through the scholarship program to study in local or foreign universities.
The college of Medicine seeks to be a leading college of medicine and college of choice for top students and local and international academics, a driving force for innovation across the national healthcare sector addressing core national challenges, and a secure source of high quality, trusted physicians for Qatar.
The College will offer a 6-year program, which leads to a Doctor of Medicine degree (MD). The study program will be student-centered and delivered through a problem-based learning approach. The program will combine coursework and clinical learning, and students will be working with patients in a clinical setting from the first year while medical sciences coursework will extend throughout the course of the study in an integrated way. Clinical teaching will be arranged in cooperation with Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) as well as other leaders in the healthcare sector in Qatar. The program will also benefit from collaboration opportunities with important partner programs within QU such as pharmacy, biomedical sciences, nutrition and public health. (QNA)
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