Qatar University’s (QU) new College of Dental Medicine establishes and holds its first meeting for a steering committee that will guide and oversee the development of the new college, which will officially open in September 2019. The steering committee will be able to make strategic and operational decisions and provide recommendations to the QU Board of Regents. President of QU, Dr. Hassan Al-Derham is the Chairperson of the committee and Vice President and Founding Dean of the College of Medicine, Dr. Egon Toft is the Vice-Chairperson.
Regular members of the committee are senior representatives of the local oral healthcare and health education systems: Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Chairman of Dental Services, Dr. Ghanim Al-Mannai; HMC Vice Chairman of the Hamad Dental Center, Dr. Khalifa Al-Ansari; HMC Director of Medical Education, Dr. Abdullatif Al-Khal; Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) Managing Director, Dr. Mariam Abdulmalik; PHCC Manager of the Oral Health Division, Dr. Asmaa Al Khatib; Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) Senior Consultant, Dr. Abdulla Al Emadi; Sidra Director of Dentistry, Dr. Jamal Al Abdulla; QU Founding Dean for QU College of Dental Medicine, Prof. Johann de Vries; and finally QU Project Manager Strategic Development, Nicola Frank.
The purpose of the first meeting of the steering committee is to introduce all members, provide everyone with key facts about the soon-to-be tenth college at QU and collect general feedback. The committee also gathered advice and strategic direction on curriculum development, organizational structure and governance, recruitment strategy, student outreach, quality assurance, partnerships and a communication plan.
The College of Dental Medicine will offer a six-year program leading to the degree of Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD). With a yearly intake of up to 25 students, 70% of students are expected to be Qatari high-school applicants from within Qatar. As the fourth college under QU Health, the new college will complement the existing health-related Colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Health Sciences, and hence expand the possibilities of inter-professional learning at the university. This is the first dental medicine college in Qatar.
The curriculum will incorporate pedagogical approaches and advanced e-learning and learning technologies, that foster students’ active learning and critical thinking. It will be delivered in close collaboration with HMC and the PHCC, so that students can benefit from early clinical experience in state-of-the-art facilities including a dental simulation clinic and academic dental hospital at HMC, student-tailored elective studies, community-based education, and research possibilities, which are key elements of the curriculum.
