http://www.boston.com/dailynews/099/nation/Report_Cornell_to_open_medical:.shtml

Report: Cornell to open medical school branch in Middle East

By Associated Press, 4/9/2001 04:54

NEW YORK (AP) Cornell University plans to open a branch of its medical school in the wealthy Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, The New York Times reported Monday.

The Qatar Foundation, established by the emir of Qatar and led by his wife, has agreed to pay an estimated $750 million to operate the medical college for 11 years, the newspaper said.

The Weill Medical College of Cornell University is expected to open in the tiny, oil- and gas-rich neighbor of Saudi Arabia in about three years. An official announcement by the school was planned for Monday.

The school's curriculum, faculty and admissions will be controlled by Cornell. Students will have to take the same tests and meet the same standards as those in New York, and graduates will receive fully accredited medical degrees. The agreement calls for 70 percent of the class to come from Qatar, unless too few students qualify.

Cornell's medical college is among country's most selective. The 101 students in this year's class were chosen from 6,344 applicants and had a 3.7 grade point average on their science courses in college.

Qatar has about 750,000 inhabitants, many of them foreign workers, and is smaller than Connecticut. There is no medical school.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001