Staff Reporter

WEILL Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) opens the spring semester this week with a series of visits by leading figures from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York (WCMC-NY).

Foremost among them will be the dean of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences and the chairmen of the departments of surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics.

A spokesperson for WCMC-Q said a full programme of events is scheduled for the visiting experts. They will present grand rounds at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and meet senior officials and clinicians there, starting today. They will also deliver lectures, conduct seminars, and meet faculty and students at WCMC-Q, as well as leaders of Qatar Foundation and higher education institutions in Education City. Over the next few months, further senior personnel from Weill Cornell in New York will arrive in Qatar.

“The increasing number of visits by eminent academics, clinicians and researchers at WCMC-NY follows the inauguration of the Medical Programme at WCMC-Q in September 2004, and the signing of an affiliation agreement between HMC, Weill Cornell Medical College and its partner hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH). Such contacts will further the co-operation between the organisations in medical education, patient care, and clinical research,” the official said.

Many of the visitors have dual professional roles, as both chiefs of clinical service at NYPH and chairmen of the corresponding academic clinical departments at Weill Cornell in New York. They have also published extensively in medical journals.

Dean of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences, David P Hajjar, PhD, is a distinguished researcher in vascular biology, with particular expertise in cardiovascular disease, and he will bring the perspective of a pre-eminent scientific investigator to his presentations in Qatar, the spokesperson said.

In order of arrival in Doha, the visiting experts are: Frank A Chervenak, MD, who is the Given Foundation Professor and chairman of obstetrics and gynaecology at WCMC-NY, and obstetrician and gynaecologist-in-chief at NYPH. He is also director of maternal-fetal medicine at NYPH, a section that specialises in the care of high-risk and complicated pregnancies. Dr Chervenak will present grand rounds at HMC today at 7am, entitled: ‘Patient choice Cesarean: The role of evidence and ethics.’

David P Hajjar, PhD is executive vice dean, vice provost and dean of the Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. His academic appointments are as Frank H T Rhodes Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Biology and Genetics, and professor of biochemistry and pathology. Dr Hajjar is also director of the Cornell Centre of Vascular Biology. The title of Dr Hajjar’s grand rounds on February 1 (11am-noon) is: ‘The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.’

Fabrizio Michelassi, MD, is Lewis Atterbury Stimson Professor and chairman of surgery at WCMC-NY. He is also surgeon-in-chief at NYPH. A specialist in the field of inflammatory bowel disease and surgical oncology, he will present grand rounds at HMC on February 3 at 7am on the subject of ‘Recent advances in the surgical treatment of abdominal complications in Crohn’s disease.’

Gerald M Loughlin, MD, is Nancy C Paduano Professor and chairman of paediatrics at WCMC-NY. He is also paediatrician-in-chief at NYPH. A paediatric pulmonologist, Dr Loughlin is an authority on disorders such as sleep apnea, asthma and cystic fibrosis. He will present grand rounds at a date to be announced.

Established in partnership with the Qatar Foundation, WCMC-Q is a branch campus of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, the first American institution to offer its MD degree overseas.

WCMC-Q offers a complete and integrated educational programme, comprising the two-year pre-medical programme, followed by the four-year medical programme, with teaching by Cornell faculty.