DOHA: The Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) and New York-Presbyterian Hospital (NYPH) yesterday signed an affiliation agreement to advance and promote medical education, clinical care and research in Qatar.
The signing ceremony held at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) premises was attended by senior officials from the institutions and a host of other dignitaries, experts and academicians.
The agreement formalises the three-way partnership which was initiated earlier this year, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the institutions last May.
As part of the agreement HMC will make its hospitals and primary health care centres available as clinical education training sites for WCMC-Q students. It establishes a partnership between the institutions, with each party remaining an independent entity and provides opportunities for training and educational exchange between their personnel, including physicians, fellows and "residents".
The signatories to the agreement were Dr Latifa Al Houty, chairperson of the HMC's board of directors, Turki Al Khater, managing director, HMC, Antonio M Gotto Jr, Provost for Medical Affairs and Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of WCMC, Daniel R Alonso, Dean, WCMC-Q and Steven J Corwin, senior vice president and chief medical officer at NYPH.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jaber Al Thani , vice chairman of HMC's board of directors and Jeffrey S Lehman, president of the Cornell University were also present at the signing ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, Latifa Al Houti described the agreement as a landmark achievement and hoped that it would further enhance Qatar's position as a centre of educational excellence, according to the vision of the Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and HH Sheikha Mouzah bint Nasser Al Missned.
" It forms the basis of mutual co-operation and opens vast opportunities before the institutions. All HMC faculties will be open for students of WCMC-Q. HMC is committed to excellence, quality and standards. We will not compromise on these aspects. We are excited to work with distinguished scientists and experts from WCMC," Latifa said.
The clinical training of WCMC-Q students will start from today at various faculties of HMC and two primary healthcare centres in basic clinical skills and communication and relationship with patients. All 16 students of the Medical programme at the college would avail of this training half of every week in the remaining part of the academic year, said Daniel Alonso.
Answering queries from the media, Latifa said, HMC was the process of upgrading its standards and was looking forward to getting accreditation from the US-based Joint Commission International (JIC). "In many areas it has already met international standards. We believe that this agreement would further strengthen our efforts, especially in areas of research and training," she said. Turkey Al Khater said the JCI accreditation is expected within three years.
Antonio M Ghotto said there was a possibility of exchange of physicians between HMC and NYPH as part of the agreement. It also provides training opportunities for HMC physicians at NYPH. It is a long-lasting agreement which does not represent a business transaction but a partnership for education. The Qatar campus is the third campus of WCMC and the first outside the US.
© The Peninsula 2004
