Three high school students will travel to the US on Doctors of the Future summer scholarships as part of their prize for winning a medical essay competition organised by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q).Ali Mohsen Hajji (Qatar Academy), Hamad Nasser al-Naimi (Omar Bin Al Khattab Education Complex for Boys) and Hessa Khalid al-Hail (Al Bayan Education Complex for Girls) will enjoy a fully funded, two-week experience at WCMC in New York City.They will visit prominent research laboratories and spend time with distinguished Weill Cornell physicians in major New York hospitals.The winners and other participants were honoured at a reception hosted by WCMC-Q dean, Dr Javaid Sheikh.This year the annual Healing Hands high school essay competition encouraged young people to share their views on becoming a doctor in Qatar. The competition, first launched in 2008, was expanded this year to offer three scholarships.Hamad Nasser al-Naimi, a high achieving student, said he will make the most of it and hoped it will be the start of a career plan for him.Hessa Khalid al-Hail is still undecided on a career path but university education and a career in medicine remains a firm option. The students will also participate in a one-week introduction to research programmes in the lab of Dr Khaled Machaca, WCMC-Q’s associate dean for research. In New York, they will be hosted by Dr Ronald G Crystal, professor and chairman of the Department of Genetic Medicine and the Bruce Webster Professor of Internal Medicine at WCMC in New York City. Dr Crystal has hosted exceptional Qatari high school students in his research laboratories and during his clinics since the programme’s inception, five years ago.