Doha – September 23, 2024: Five Qatari high school students demonstrated their writing and research skills by winning Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar's (WCM-Q) annual Healing Hands essay competition.

The winning students were judged to have written the best 800-word essays on the topic of the use of AI and machine learning in medicine by a panel of experts drawn from the WCM-Q faculty.

This year's winning students are Saeed Farhoud Al-Hajri, Jassim Abdulla Shahbik, Ibrahim Ali Ali (all of Qatar Science & Technology Secondary School for Boys), Jassim Mohamed Hejji of The Gulf English School, and Shaikha Khalid Al-Kubaisi of Al Arqam Academy for Girls.

Each winning student was presented with a winner's certificate and a prize at an award ceremony held at the college. A further 10 students were awarded Honorable Mention certificates in recognition of the high quality of their essays, and 21 students received participation certificates.

The essays of the five winners and those who received honorable mentions were noted for the originality of their ideas, their command of written English, the soundness of their supporting arguments, and the coherent structure of their essays. The judges also acknowledged the high level of the participants' essays, noting the generally high standard of all of the entries this year.

The contest, which is run by the Office of Student Outreach and Educational Development at WCM-Q, is open to Qatari students in grades 10 and 11. The program is designed to inspire young Qatari nationals to consider pursuing careers in medicine and biomedical science.

Winning student Shaikha Khalid Al-Kubaisi said: 'I was very excited to have the chance to write about my passion for science and medicine and I really enjoyed the whole process of the competition. It was even more exciting once I learned that I had done well—I feel very honored.'

The certificates were presented by Dr. Rachid Bendriss, associate dean for foundation, student outreach and educational development programs; and Ms. Noha Saleh, director of pre-medical administration, student outreach and educational development.

Mr. Farhoud Al-Hajri, father of Saeed, was in attendance at the ceremony. He said: 'It was an honor for my son to win this competition and I am here to celebrate his outstanding achievement. I hope this experience will inspire him to continue striving for excellence and pursue a career in medicine at WCM-Q. I would like to extend my gratitude to WCM-Q for offering such programs that guide students toward a successful future.'

Ms. Saleh said: 'We were extremely pleased to have the opportunity to read a great many highly original and well-researched essays. The talent, hard work and clear passion for the sciences demonstrated by the essays gives us confidence that many of the entrants will seek to pursue careers in medicine by applying to WCM-Q.'

Dr. Bendriss said: 'We were truly impressed by the standard of the essays we received this year, which made the task of selecting the winners extremely difficult—they are all winners in this respect and everyone who participated should feel extremely proud. We hope that many entrants will be encouraged to apply to join us at WCM-Q and will eventually go on to provide world-class care to patients in Qatar and beyond.'