Doha – May 17, 2022:  Newly graduated doctors of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have matched with residency programs at some of the world’s most prestigious university hospitals. 

The newly qualified doctors, who graduated this month, matched with residency training programs at elite institutions in Qatar and the United States, including Hamad Medical Corporation, Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Case Western/University Hospital Cleveland, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, Tufts Medical Center in Boston, Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, among others. 

The medical specialties the new doctors will be pursuing are anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics-gynecology, pediatrics and psychiatry. They will join their residency programs in the fall.

Nasser Al-Kuwari matched with the internal medicine residency program at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond, Virginia. Speaking at an event held to mark Match Day, he said: “I am so happy to have achieved this match and very grateful to my family, friends and the faculty at WCM-Q for their kindness and support, which has allowed me to reach this goal. I send my heartfelt congratulations to my classmates for achieving excellent matches through their incredible dedication to their studies. I hope and have faith that we will all go on to achieve our ultimate aim of providing excellent care to our patients for many years to come, as well as making great contributions to research, medical education and our communities.” 

Match Day is a momentous occasion in any doctor’s career, with thousands of students in the US and all over the world vying for places on residency programs. The process, which is administered by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) in Washington, DC, is highly competitive - this year, 42,000 applicants competed for only 39,205 positions. 

This year, 13 WCM-Q graduates matched at Hamad Medical Corporation and 27 matched with residency programs in the US. The event featured speeches by Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, Vice Dean for Academic and Curricular Affairs at WCM-Q, and Dr. Sean Holroyd, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, both of whom warmly congratulated the new doctors. 

Dr. Javaid Sheikh, Dean of WCM-Q, spoke at the event to give thanks to Qatar Foundation and the State of Qatar for their ongoing support for WCM-Q and to pay tribute to the achievements of the graduates. He said: “Match Day is truly a rite of passage in the lives of medical students and you will have fond memories of this moment that will stay with you forever. More than this, Match Day is a signifier that you have made it through an extremely rigorous course of study that has demanded immense hard work, determination, and self-sacrifice. It has been a pleasure and an honor for myself and the faculty to have joined you on this journey.”