Doha – Soon-to-graduate students of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have gained residency places at prestigious healthcare institutions in Qatar and the US, marking another successful Match Day for the college.

Match Day is an extremely significant milestone in the career of every medical student as they learn where they will continue their training after they graduated and received their MD degree.

Final-year medical students at WCM-Q matched with elite residency programs at highly regarded institutions in the US and Qatar, including Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medicine, Valley Health System, Lincoln Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Case Western/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Queens, Lehigh Valley Hospital, Children’s National Medical Center, Quinnipiac University/Netter MD School of Medicine, University of Miami/Jackson Health System, Orlando Health, One Brooklyn Health Kingsbrook New York, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, and the University of Maryland Medical Center, among others. The students are set to graduate in May and will join their residency programs in the fall.

WCM-Q achieved an 86 percent match rate for students who applied to U.S. residency programs, a level which far exceeds the average 56.4 percent match rate for international medical graduates, underlining the college’s position as one of the world’s leading destinations for international medical education.

Match Day is a highly competitive process, with many thousands of students in the US and all over the world vying for a limited number of places through a program administered by the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) in Washington, DC. This year was the largest match in the NRMP’s 74-year history, with 53,373 registered applicants competing for a total of 41,482 positions.

The medical specialties the soon-to-be doctors of the Class of 2026 will be pursuing once they receive their MD degrees are anesthesiology, dermatology, emergency medicine, family medicine, general surgery, internal medicine, neurology, neurosurgery, obstetrics-gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, pathology, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, plastic surgery, preventive and community medicine, psychiatry, radiology, and surgery.

Dean of WCM-Q Dr. Javaid Sheikh said: “We are extremely proud of our Class of 2026 students, who have remained resolute in their dedication to their studies through a challenging time. We are certain that this resilience will enable them to accomplish great things in their careers, and we are sure that many will affirm their commitment to serving patients in our region by taking up roles in Qatar’s thriving healthcare sector once they have completed their residency training.”

Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, vice dean for academic and curricular affairs, said: “Congratulations to all of you in the Class of 2026, you have reached this milestone through challenges that few before you have had to navigate, firstly during the Covid pandemic and now in the present difficult circumstances. That you have persevered and achieved this goal speaks volumes about your resilience and commitment. As you move into your next chapter, we wish you all the very best of success, and we know that you will carry with you the dedication to achieving excellence that you have developed in your time here at WCM-Q.”

About Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar 

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar is a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation. It offers a comprehensive Six-Year Medical Program leading to the Cornell University M.D. degree with teaching by Cornell and Weill Cornell faculty and by physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Sidra Medicine, the Primary Health Care Corporation, and Aspetar Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, who hold Weill Cornell appointments. Through its biomedical research program, WCM-Q is building a sustainable research community in Qatar while advancing basic science and clinical research. Through its medical college, WCM-Q seeks to provide the finest education possible for medical students, to improve health care both now and for future generations, and to provide high quality health care to the Qatari population.

For more info, please contact:
Hanan Lakkis
Associate Director, Media and Publications
Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar
hyl2004@qatar-med.cornell.edu