The College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS) at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) has recently sponsored the participation of six female students in a training course on statistical genomics held at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

This sponsorship is part of the designated programme to prepare selected cadres for the third cohort of the Medical Students Gifted and Talented Programme (MGTP) at the College. The sponsored participants include Ms. Shaima Khaled, Ms. Bushra Sulaiman, Ms. Fatima BuAli, Ms. Walaa Al Hammad, Ms. Jinan Al Alawi and Ms. Safaa Habib.

During the training course, the participants underwent theoretical sessions accompanied by practical applications on next generation sequencing data analysis, genetic and variant association testing, infectious disease genomics, inference and genealogical analysis.

The main objective of the training course was to connect participants with a specialised team from the Big Data Institute at the University of Oxford, the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (WTCHG), the Department of Statistics, and the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science. The aim was to benefit from their scientific and practical experience in the field of statistical genomics.

On this occasion, the participating CMMS students praised the training course, stating that it provided them with an opportunity to learn important concepts and applications in the field of statistical genomics. They also appreciated the opportunity to discuss the gap between what is taught and the latest scientific findings in this field.AGU launched the MGTP in early 2019, making it the first programme of its kind in the region and worldwide. The programme targets the talented elite of CMMS students and provides them with an integrated enrichment programme over a period of three years. Participants receive specialised courses in various medical sciences, scientific research, the art of scientific writing, and statistics.

The programme aims to prepare physician-scientists who possess advanced knowledge in one or more fields of medical sciences. It focuses on cultivating strong motivation, a desire for achievement, and mastery of scientific research skills. Participants are encouraged to publish at least two papers as principal investigators in scientific journals with advanced classification during their enrollment in the program.

The selection process for participants in the MGTP is based on accurate scientific foundations that measure high levels of motivation and the ability to identify gaps in knowledge and answer new questions through testing or retesting previous hypotheses. The process is conducted in partnership with Pearson and Creativity Testing Services, specialized in measuring mental abilities, personality, and creativity.

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