It proved to be a nerve-racking but exciting experience for Noura Rakab and Yasmin Zamel, both aged 16, from American School of Doha, who presented a poster about the implications for public policy of vitamin D deficiency in Qatar, which they worked on with Aya Al Thani and Maryam Hussain under the supervision of their teacher, Pamela Keigley. Noura said: “We really enjoyed the research and the event because it was a challenge that took us out of our comfort zone and made us push ourselves further than we thought was possible.” Yasmin said: “We are both really interested in careers in medicine so it was great to work on this project together. We are looking forward to applying to medical school next year.”
Each team was paired with a WCM-Q teaching specialist or faculty member who provided useful guidance on how to refine the research questions, conduct research and interpret data. The teaching specialists who actively engaged with the students were: Dr. Ali Chaari, Dr. Majda Sebah, Dr. Nandeo Choony, Dr. Branislav Aleksic, Ms. Melanie Fernandes, Ms. Robin Theron and Mr. Anthony Overy, in addition to faculty member Dr. Ghizlane Bendriss.
During the event Noha Saleh, Director of Student Recruitment and Outreach, said: “This was the first event of our new High School Medical Conference initiative, which we have designed to reach out to highly motivated and talented high school students to help them realize their ambitions of becoming Qatar’s next generation of medical leaders. “We are delighted with the enthusiastic response we received from high schools, students and teachers, and we look forward to welcoming them back to WCM-Q for the culmination of the High School Medical Conference on November 10-11.”
High School Research competition
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