Students of Class of 2022 attending the Boot Camp.
Doha: Qatar University College of Medicine (QU-CMED) enrolled 93 new students to its Class of 2022, which began its journey towards the MD degree last September. This is an increase of 16 percent in the number of students enrolled last year.
About 73 percent of the new applicants were accepted into the first year (General Medicine) and 27 percent as Foundation students.
At a rate of 62 percent, the majority (58) of the new students are Qatari. Nine transfer students were also admitted into Class of 2022, coming from other colleges within QU and 13 Qatari students admitted last year to the Medicine Foundation have joined the cohort.
All Qatari applicants who met the criteria were admitted. International applicants competed for the remaining seats. The admission process this year was highly competitive with 1,009 students applying.
Of them, 616 met admission criteria and 15 percent were enrolled. For international students, the cut-off high-school GPA was at a minimum of 99.0 percent. They come from international, Independent and community schools in Doha. Four students interrupted studies at medical schools in the UK and Saudi Arabia and transferred to QU-CMED.
The new students participated in a Boot Camp on August 29-31 to orient on the MD programme and familiarise with CMED culture, policies and team members.
They also visited Hamad General Hospital and attended a cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) workshop held by Hamad International Training Centre (HITC).
The third day of the Boot Camp was organised by second-year students (Class of 2021) who offered a student perspective on the college’s culture and student life.
Dr. Nora Al Mutawa, Head, Clinical Training, Primary Health Care Organization (PHCC), gave a presentation on primary healthcare centres and family medicine.
Prof Egon Toft, QU Vice-President for Medical Education and CMED Dean, said: “The excellent performance of year one students has encouraged the college to maintain admission criteria for this year.
“With an eye on the increase in the number of applicants, the admission committee is looking into the possibility of revising criteria and processes to ensure a suitable balance between quality and individualised focus, and maximise the number of graduates to meet the high demand in the healthcare sector for locally trained highly qualified medical doctors.”
