We recently had a visit from one of our alumni, who talked to our current students about what life is like at medical school. Mona Abdelmoniem, who graduated from GES in June 2012, is studying medicine at Weill Cornell University Qatar. She is currently in her fifth year of study and is working at Hamad General Hospital as part of her studies.
The current IB cohort in year one has an impressive eleven students who wish to pursue medicine as a career. We also have some students from IB2, AS, and some of our motivated students from years 10 and 11 who are already beginning to make their choices of future careers. These students were delighted to be able to have someone who has gone through the process tell them what is expected at university. Mona was an exceptional student and received offers from all around the world before choosing Weill Cornell. She was able to give information about the tests and subjects students should choose and complete to help make their applications stronger.
Mona talked about her experiences and the challenges she faced, particularly with Chemistry. This subject was one she found challenging but, as she knew it was a mandatory part of the course, she worked extra hard to get the grades she needed. Mona encouraged our students to think ahead and book the standardised tests in plenty of time and, in addition, to consider taking the subject tests as well in order to demonstrate strength in these subjects.
She answered questions from the students about topics from the application process to how it was studying medicine. Mona also told them of her plans to take residency outside of Qatar when she graduates in 2019.
It was amazing to have one our students back at school and we hope to encourage more of our alumni to come back and share their experience and knowledge.
