Diaspo #317 : Rachid Bendriss, shaping a new generation of doctors with foundation programs

Born in El Jadida, with a faithful sense of belonging to Tetouan, where his family is originally from, Rachid Bendriss spent his childhood and school years in the peaceful, city by the Atlantic Ocean. In the 80’s, upon graduating high school, he left for Marrakech to attend university.

There, he majored in English and by his third year in college a mere coincidence changed the course of his life. After a stroll in Gueliz, downtown Marrakech, with his roommate and university buddy, Rachid decided to take a look at the American center. «It’s a shame we are majoring in English, and we’ve never been here», he told his friend.

Once inside, he set his eyes on an ad that would change his life forever. «Come work for Disney», it said. And so it was, the young man applied for the job and left for the United States to work at the Moroccan pavilion in Disney World.

«My father worked as a mechanic, he made next to nothing. Disney paid for everything, this is how I went to the United States», he told Yabiladi.

From teacher to university administrator

But Rachid did not go empty-handed. With a bachelor’s degree in hand, he was back on campus grounds a year later. He enrolled in a master’s degree in applied linguistics at the University of central Florida (UCF) in Orlando.

From there, his academic career started, working as a teaching assistant and then a faculty member, teaching English as a second language to international students. In addition to teaching, Rachid got into management. By chance, he was approached by a director at UCF who saw in him a great administrator.

«When I was teaching, I was a faculty member, and I was enjoying it. There was a director who pulled me and she said, I see a lot of potential in you becoming administrator and I need an assistant director», he recalled. «So, she gave me that administrator role in addition to my teaching duties», he explained.

There, Rachid realized that this was the path he wanted to pursue. Indeed, after assuming his position as administrator he pursued a doctorate of education in Educational Leadership. At the same university, he went on to become faculty development specialist at the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, promoting the internationalization of the university’s curricula.

«It was an area that was very trendy back then in 2004, 2005. The university wanted to embark on what is called internationalization of curriculum, meaning all the professors had to internationalize their curricula through adding an international component», Rachid explained.

After UCF, the professor left for Valencia College, a public college in Orlando. In 2010, and due to family considerations, he decided to leave the USA and started exploring job opportunities in the Middle East.

After a series of interviews, visits and presentations, he went for Qatar. There he was offered a position by the Cornell University, one of the eight prestigious American Ivy League universities. «Cornell has a campus here in Qatar, they have a medical school, which they opened in 2002», said Rachid, who joined the college in 2010.

Designing a successful foundation program

In addition to teaching English as a second language to medical students attending Cornell, Rachid was given the opportunity to work on his passion, which is helping students thrive and designing educational programs for that sake.

At the behest of the Dean of the University, Professor Bendriss was asked to find a solution for one of the biggest problems the campus was facing : not enough local students interested in pursuing the six-year medical degree.

The academic was tasked with the mission of finessing a program that would attract more Qatari students to the medical school. «As you know, medicine is a tough degree to pursue», he explained. He was then appointed in 2013 as Assistant Dean for Student Recruitment, Outreach, and Foundation to increase the number of Qatari students applying for the degree.

Rachid embarked on the mission, implementing his vision that comprised multiple programs, and various strategies meant to establish relationships with high schools and the Qatari Ministry of Education and Higher education.

With the help of a six-member team, Rachid consolidated the Foundation program to push more students into going for the medical degree. The Foundation consists in a one-year program that enrolls local students who failed to access the six-year medical degree. It prepares them for the primary degree and gives them a second chance to study medicine.

«When students apply to become medical doctors, the office of admissions look into the applications. Applicants who don’t meet the necessary requirements, are told about the Foundation program, which will prepare them for the rigor of the six-year program», Rachid said.

«99% of the time, they take it. Once they are in, they have to meet certain criteria before they are admitted into the advanced six-year program», he noted.

The program has allowed Cornell to increase the number of Qatari medical students from 13% in 2013 to 44% as of now.

Unlike any other Foundation program, the one designed by Rachid is a preparatory premedical program with a very medicine-oriented curriculum. «During this one-year program, students learn basic science, biology, chemistry, English for academic communication which I teach, as well as biostatistics for biological sciences, and then global and public health», he told Yabiladi.

Thanks to his vision and persistence, the Foundation program he designed and oversees has become so popular among students that new applicants demand flow into it en masse. An achievement that makes the El Jadida-native very proud. «I love my job, I don’t feel like I am working, I make a difference and I educate future leaders, future doctors», he concluded.

Rachid hopes that one day a similar program may be implemented in Morocco, to help hundreds of students have that push they need to be admitted in the schools of their dreams.