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Cornell medical school in Qatar operational despite war

The school's dean says the biggest impact of the war is the difficulty in recruiting U.S. faculty and staff.

By Myrle Croasdale, amednews staff. April 21, 2003.

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Three hundred miles south of Iraq, a handful of Cornell University faculty are building a new medical school in Doha, Qatar.

They're not far from the U.S.-led central command base for the war, but they've yet to see their first general or any other U.S. military personnel.

"Once in a while you see someone who looks like a Marine, but no uniforms," said Daniel Alonso, MD, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. "They're keeping a very low profile. The same is true of their planes. I'm sure some are taking off from here, but it's not obvious."

This past fall, 27 students began a two-year pre-medical program at the school, with their four-year medical studies to begin in 2004.

This is the first time a U.S. medical school has attempted to establish a branch campus overseas, a challenge in the best of times.

The backup plan if the war puts staff and students at risk is to send Cornell employees back to the United States and temporarily shut down the program.

So far, the biggest impact Dr. Alonso has noticed from the war in Iraq is more difficulty hiring U.S. faculty and staff.

He's getting more "No's" than he would have otherwise, he said, but other objectives are on schedule, like construction on the new lab.

On campus and throughout the city, security has been increased. Security guards and police are present at the entrance to the school and in campus buildings.

There have been no anti-war demonstrations and no reports of hostility toward Americans, but this doesn't mean the Qataris aren't angry over the U.S. invasion.

"Our students are of Arab ancestry, and they don't like the war, but they keep this to themselves," Dr. Alonso said. "They've expressed concern to me, 'We don't want you to suspend classes.' "

Cornell's first Qatar class will graduate in 2008.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education has clarified its policy to say it will not accredit schools outside of the United States or Canada, but Dr. Alonso is optimistic this could change.

"Eventually, I think we will be accredited," he said. "We will so closely resemble a U.S. medical school that the issue will have to be reconsidered."

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