Amiri Scholarship Program for Palestinian Doctors 2024-25


Hamad Medical Corporation, in collaboration with Qatar Red Crescent and the Palestine Red Crescent Society, is pleased to announce that Palestinian doctors can apply for selected HMC Residency Training Programs in Qatar through the Amiri Scholarship Program for Postgraduate Training in Medical Specializations. This charity program is funded through a special grant from HH the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to support the development of a medical workforce in the Palestinian Territories and to build a sustainable healthcare infrastructure for its people. This program is open exclusively to Palestinian nationals resident in West Bank and Gaza.

Eligibility Requirements

  1. Hold a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority or a travelling document issued by another country but which is not linked to a national number of that country and be in possession of a valid Palestinian Identity.
  2. Currently resident in Gaza or West Bank.
  3. Graduated within the past six years from a medical school listed on the register of the World Directory of Medical Schools (https://www.wdoms.org/). Graduation date is calculated based on the final medical school exam dates. For the current intake (2024-25 academic year), graduates of 2018 or more recent are eligible to apply.
  4. Have completed, or will complete by 30 June 2024, an internship training program* or one (1) year of postgraduate, hospital-based training in several major medical specialties.

*An Internship Training Program is 12 months of clinical rotations in major medical specialties (e.g. Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology) usually after graduation from Medical School. The trainee should receive a Certificate of Completion of Internship at the end of the Internship Training Program. Externship Rotations, Observership Rotations, and Clinical Attachment Rotations are not considered internship training. In some instances, we may accept internship training which has been completed as the final year of the medical school curriculum.

  1. Hold a valid Medical License or be eligible for licensure in Qatar
  2. Have been in continuous clinical practice in the one-year period preceding application and with no practice gaps of one year or greater at any time since internship completion (without appropriate justification of extenuating circumstances).
  3. Passed any oneof the following required clinical examinations:

 Authority

Examination Name

Minimum Accepted Score

USMLE

Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK)

Pass

IFOM

Clinical Science Exam (CSE)

Equivalent to the pass score of USMLE Step 2CK for the year in which the exam was written

· Exams written from 20 March 2023 onwards: 74

· Previous exam dates: 72

MCC

Qualifying Examination (QE) Part 1

Pass


Applicants must include the passing result in their application; it is not possible to submit scores later.

  1. Met the minimum listed score in any oneof the following required English language proficiency examinations:

Authority

Examination Name

Minimum Accepted Score (See Note 5)

TOEFL

PBT / PBT Revised (RPDT)

Prior scoring format: 550

Revised scoring format: 60

iBT (professional level) (including Home Edition or MyBestScore)

87

IELTS

Academic Level

7.0 (overall band score)

OET

Medical (including Home Edition)

350 (average score of all sections)


Application Dates


25 October to 30 November 2023 (11:59 p.m. Qatar time) (to join HMC starting July 2024).

Programs and Seats Available

The available specialties for the 2024-25 intake are as follows, with one seat available in each:

For Applicants Resident in

Specialization (Residency)

Sub-Specialization (Fellowship)

Gaza

Internal Medicine

Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU); or, Clinical Hematology

Pediatrics

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU); or,

Pediatric Pulmonology

Anatomic Pathology

Genitourinary and Renal

West Bank

Orthopedic Surgery

To be confirmed

Anesthesiology

To be confirmed

General Surgery

Colorectal

Internal Medicine

Pulmonology

Pediatrics

GIT


How to Apply


All applications must be submitted through our online application portal, SMApply.

  1. Register for a new account at https://hamad.smapply.ioor log in to your existing account. New account registration will only be available while the application intake period is open.
  2. a) For new users: complete the Eligibility Quiz, to determine eligibility to apply. Applicants who provide false information in the Eligibility Quiz, in order to bypass the system, may be disqualified from the application process.
    b) For account holders who have previously applied online to our programs: under Account Settings, update your existing Eligibility Quiz, in order to view programs to which you may apply. Programs will only become visible and open for applications while the application intake period is open.
  3. Initiate the application. Take note of the unique application number, for future reference.
  4. Complete all parts of the application, including the application form and uploading of all required documents. The various sections of the application can be modified or corrected prior to submission; however, no further changes are permitted once submission is complete.
  5. Submit the completed application prior to the intake deadline. The system does not allow late submissions and will automatically close to submissions at 11:59 p.m. (Qatar time) on the day of the deadline. Incomplete applications or those not submitted prior to the deadline will not be considered for selection.

We strongly encourage all applicants to review Frequently Asked Questions and Appendix (A) “General Guidelines on Completing the Application” before completing their application. 

Additional Information


Please take careful note of the following:

  • TOEFL, IELTS, and OET results must be valid at the time of application. The current validity of these exams is two years from the date of testing. Applicants with a score which is valid at the time of application but will expire prior to the program start date should contact our office by email, for early verification of your certificate.
  • Applications must be fully complete prior to submission, including all required clinical and English language proficiency examination scores. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that exams are written in sufficient time that scores are available prior to the application deadline. 
  • All applications will be verified thoroughly for false information. Any discovered instances of plagiarism (e.g. copied Letters of Intent), false information, or manipulation of documents will result in disqualification and withdrawal of your application.

Contact Us


All queries should be addressed to aelthlatheny@hamad.qa. This email address is monitored Sunday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Qatar time) and queries are dealt with in the order in which they are received. We endeavor to reply within 2 to 3 business days; however, response time may lengthen during peak periods. Please do not resend your query multiple times as it may result in a delay in replying to you.

Personal visits (by the applicant or family members), phone calls, and emails to individual staff members will not be entertained. This will be strictly enforced and attempts to do so may be considered interference in the selection process. ​