記錄旅程的心情

Visiting Education City in Qatar is always what I am dreaming of, and even better if I could participate in the classes there. But I got both of them this summer, which was definitely more than I expected.



This summer, I got the opportunity to the school, Texas A and M in Qatar, the distinguished university from the States. The branch in Qatar was set up in 2003, and it thrived in the state of Qatar. In the beginning, 29 students are in the first year, but until now more than 400 engineers have graduated from 2007.



The school is in Education City in Doha and designed by Mexican architect. Therefore, the building has lots of Mexican elements. The main gate is like pyramid and the use of color is bold. Also, the architect integrated the Middle east culture; therefore, we could find classical patterns on the wall.



In the visit yesterday, I think is a privilege for me to take part in one class in the Texas A and M. The class was Professor Joseph Williams’s class, mainly about how to write decent resume and CV for the upcoming job hunting season.

For me, the class size is small, only 9 including me, which is quite different from Taiwan. In the beginning of the courses, the professor asked everyone’s status of quo, the progress of the report for T1 and relevant projects. In the counterpart in Taiwan, professors may not have enough time to meet or to take care every student. But here in Texas A and M, this is common.

In the class, professor Williams had some assignment for the class, which was including me. I was shocked than because we have to give a presentation from various topics in English! (e.g. Mine is one resume example for volunteering) Within ten minutes, I found my “switch” was turning on to prepare for the presentation.

When I was on the stage to present mine in English, I was trembling, hoping no one noticed that. But eventually I try my best to give them a complete presentation.
Everyone was engaging in the class, so the atmosphere was very vibrant. What really surprised me was students’ presentation skill in the class, any of them could be the top in my experience. From them, I understood that my scope was widening this time.

After the class, I got positive feedback from the professor, which was really inspiring. I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot from it, not to mention the experience of taking one class in Texas A and M. I am grateful for Professor Williams gave me the opportunity to class and the unforgettable experiences in Qatar.



In the afternoon, I went to one lab in Texas A and M, where 4 Taiwanese engineers worked there. The leading engineer is Mac Wu, who comes from Taitung University in Taiwan. The research here is mainly about automatic engineering, includes robots and other related products.

They showed me some achievements they had done. Because I am a Pharmacy student, so everything in the lab is new for me. Their research is useful in many parts, like innovative structure for stabilizing the building or uses robots to construct skyscrapers.

I especially admire the robots, because they could detect the gasoline tube underground. The tragedy in Kaohsiung was unforgettable and very sad for everyone in Taiwan. With this robot, it could help us to check the tube, which is efficient and safe. Hope it could be launched soon and helps the society.




After the visit to the lab, I also went to different school in the campus, where gathers famous universities from the States. The building was marvelous and the equipment, no doubt, is great. Every school provides their distinguished courses in the field and attracts international students.

For me, the concept of university and campus life for me might be narrow. In the visit, I experienced total different cultures. Although I just take one class and visit one lab here, but it has changed my point of view of learning. Education truly needs some stimulation to inspire, and this would be one proof.

““Are you the student come from Taiwan?” A woman who wears abaya asked me this question.
“Yeah, I Am.” I replied, giving my name card to her with cautious.
“It’s great to meet you! Please follow me.” I followed her step, and the visit to Pharmacy College at Qatar University began.



(The beginning)

I could still remember the feeling and the timing when I sent my proposal to Pharmacy College at Qatar University. It was in May and I was still on the way to prepare the trip to Doha. The visit to Qatar University is one initiative that drew me to this country. Therefore, visiting school’s website became my routine, finding anything new on it could always be interesting.

While I was waiting in the office, I observed the surrounding and prepare the material for the meeting. The atmosphere here was serene but I a little bit nervous until the appearance of Ms. Alla.

“Ya hala. It’s great to meet you, Mr. Shih” Ms. Alla talked to me with a grim, which relieved my stress.

“Thank you for providing the opportunity for me to here!” I said. And, Ms. Ella started to introduce the history of the school to me.

Pharmacy College at Qatar University was founded in 2007, which is the first and the only pharmacy college in Qatar. The school also is the first and only international program to be awarded full accreditation status by CCAPP (Canada). CCAPP is the sole pharmacy program accreditation agency in Canada. Therefore, for this young and new college, the accreditation is the symbol of excellency and quality education.

Ms. Alla then talked about the academic programs. Now three approved academic programs are provided to meet the needs of professional skills. They are Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy (BSc (Pharm)) degree program; Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree program and the; Master of Sciences (MSc (Pharm)) degree program.

In the near future, the school planned to launch PhD programs and expand the scale the school. (Now only 25 female student maximum in each grade) Although the school is small, they provide a variety of curriculums for student to the field of pharmacy. “Clinical pharmacy” is the core of the curriculum. Therefore, students are required to get internship in real work places (e.g. hospital, Drug Company) in their academic years.

This is quite different from the courses in Taiwan, where we usually have rotations in the last year of college life. Clinical pharmacy for us still is a new idea. But in this place, clinical pharmacist has become more prevalent and provides professional consultation to the patients.



(The first meet with the dean, Dr. Ayman El-Kadi )

After getting some concepts of the school, Ms. Ella led me to meet the dean of the college, Dr. Ayman El-Kadi. Dr. El-Kadi was a professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Alberta since 2001 before he came to Qatar University. His research interests are in the areas of Pharmacology and Molecular and Environmental Toxicology.

The meeting with Dr. El-Kadi was pleasant. I shared my pharmacy life in Taiwan and the status of quo of Taiwan. To my surprise, Dr El-Kadi was familiar with Taiwan due to the experiences to China. He mentioned about the academic programs in Qatar University and analyzed the strength of the school. Although Pharmacy College at Qatar University is young and new, but the vibrancy of the collaboration with distinguished schools (e.g. University of South Carolina and Purdue University), has pushed this school into higher stage.



Afterwards, I was curious about the use of Chinese medicine in the country. It seems like the treatment is not common or prevalent here. Only a few clinics provide acupuncture or Chinese massage in Doha. Therefore, the potential of Chinese medicine in this area is high.

Dr. El- Kadi provided useful information about pharmacy in Qatar. In the discussion, I found differences between Qatar and Taiwan in many aspects. But one thing in common --- the positioning of pharmacists is changing, from dispensing drugs to become a professional consultant.

The field of pharmacy has been different, for student as I am, keeping learning is necessary. From Dr. El-Kadi’s encouragement, I think being a pharmacist is not only get one degree but being a good health care provider. There are still long way to go for me to be a pharmacist but learning never comes to end, and this is what I get from the meeting.



(Tour to the school)

“ How do you think of the meeting?” Ms. Tammy asked me.
“Pretty well, I cannot wait to find out more here” I said.
“OK, let’s go!” I followed Ms. Tammy’s step and started the tour.

Pharmacy College now located in the female science building in the campus. The College of Pharmacy building now is under constructing and expects to provide a pleasant environment for all members.



1. General information

We went upstairs, where is the main classroom area. Ms. Tammy showed me the photos of the activities. Because students in the school come from various countries, the blend of culture here is beyond my imagination. Besides, the amount of the students is small, which allows professor and students have close relationship.

While passing by the classroom, Ms. Tammy pointed at the camera on the ceiling to introduce the innovative teaching method --- Lecture Capture. Lecture Capture is that use of distance learning. Every class in Pharmacy College is recorded in the video clips for students to review after class. It’s especially useful for students whose mother tongue is not English.

Also, e-textbook is prevalent in the school. Students could find e-version of the textbook on the website, which breaks the barrier of time and distance of learning.
It is an eco-friendly proof as well.

Ms. Tammy also mentioned about other activities like white coat ceremonies, research nights. These are every year’s highlight and are grand in the school.

2. Clinical pharmacy Labs

During the tour, these two laboratories might be the most unforgettable places.

When I stepped into the first one, I said “wow” at the first glance. In the school, two laboratories are set up for class of clinical pharmacy. They were decorated as real drug store and wards in the hospital. It is also a classroom for SMSA class.

For students in the first grade, SMSA is a compulsory subject to take. SMSA (Structured Multi-Skill Assessment) is similar to PCE (Patient consulting Examination) in Taiwan. Students practice their skill of consulting with the patients, which is useful in their future career.

Because of my PCE experience in Taiwan, I am excited about to find the counterpart here in Qatar. Furthermore, the assessment in not limited to pharmacy student but also students in medical college. This is different from Taiwan. Every year Qatar University will hold competition of SMSA, as one measurement of clinical skills.

In another lab, which looks like a ward in the hospital, is also one classroom for clinical pharmacy. In the class, doctors, nurses and pharmacists will take part in, and the student will pretend as a patient lying on the bed. Medical simulation equipped students the must-have skill in the future. Through the experience, they would be able to face the challenges in the career.



3. Wet labs

Clinical pharmacy lab had already surprised me a lot. Therefore, I am thinking of whether wet labs could be as good as previous ones? But the answer is yes and they are far more than I expect.

In Qatar, cardio vascular disease, diabetes are huge problems. This might be the reason why I met lots of scientist in this area before I came to Qatar University. The first lab I visited also did related research. Two graduate students lead me to the lab and provided me some information of their research, which focused on cardio vascular disease prevention.





The next lab was mainly on polymeric drug delivery research. I was lucky to meet Dr. Somayeh Zamani, who is the Post Doctoral fellow working at of the lab. She explained her research, and gave me a framework of drug delivery, which was to find the appropriate substances to deliver the drugs. Although I only had some concepts to the topic, I got some points after Dr. Somayeh Zamani’s explanation.



The equipment in both labs is new and complete, providing the research team the best environment. Ms.Tammy told me that some labs take the grant from QNRF (Qatar National Research Foundation, one member of Qatar foundation). These show that the achievement are highly anticipated, dedicating to enhance the level of health in Qatar.

(The meeting with QPhus)

The meeting with QPhus( Qatar Pharmacy Undergraduate Society) was my last stop today. Actually I was excited about it because I could meet students in person, understanding more about real pharmacy education experience in Qatar.



Before starting the meeting, one student told me that she enjoyed Taiwanese movies. I was delighted and show them one video clip of Taiwan, sceneries with Taiwanese folks. From their faces, I could feel they were surprised about the scenes, which were totally different from here.



During the discussion, although the academic programs are quite different, we could still found similarities in two systems. They had high interest of PCE in Taiwan as I first met SMSA in Qatar. One of them shared her experience to me, because she won the first prize in SMSA competition. School life in Taiwan also was a topic. Because their tight schedule, club life for them were unfamiliar but they were still participate in many activities. So, their life is still very colorful.






From their sharing, pharmacy life in the Middle East seems not as I imagine, which was more than great. The diversity of nationalities was one dominant reason. When I asked about their origins, they told me an unexpected answer--- most of them came from different countries. The blend of culture and the width of the scope are their strength, not to mention about their academic performance.



(A great experience)

“ I am grateful for the opportunity to be here!” After the meeting, I talked to Ms.Alla.
“ I am glad that you enjoy the tour.” Ms. Alla said.
“Of course I did!” My eyes were clear and determined

After saying goodbye to them, I stepped out the building and constantly thinking one thing --- what is the best pharmacy education? From this experience, I believe that Pharmacy College at Qatar University is a model of glocalization. It respects local culture while providing world-class curriculums. Every place could find the suitable one for them, and Doha finds the greatest one. The first encounter of pharmacy life in the Middle East truly means a lot to me. I am glad to get the opportunity to this promising college, which is a precious experience and truly expand my horizon.

Mathaf, Arab Museum of Modern Art, located in Education City Doha, is one hub that nourishes art field in Qatar. The museum is renowned by its huge collection of modern Arabic art and thought as one must-see museum in Qatar.



Mathaf in Arabic means museum. Many part of museum are also named in Arabic, like Maqha (Café), Makata (Library). The education place is named as Manara, which means lighthouse in Arabic, to represent delivering knowledge like lighthouse shines.



The museum was originally an old school building, and redesigned by French architect, Jean Francois bodin. Color white is everywhere in Mathaf, to minimize the influence of color, like blank canvas, allowing art pieces pop up in the space.Some special design like scaffold in the lobby, as if museum is under construction, represents the notion of modern art --- never completes and constantly goes through.



Mr. Sheikh Hassan, a petriotic Qatari, is the key person to the museum. When Mr. Sheikh Hassan studied in Art of the 20th Century in Qatar University in 80s, he found Picasso, Monet on the textbook, but nearly no Arab artists are mentioned. He thought these artists’ contribution was obvious as well and deserved to be one part of the book. This pushed him to collect Arabic and Qatari art pieces.



Since then, his collection had grown bigger after buying art pieces from the artists themselves or their relatives. He enjoyed the process of collecting; therefore, he owned over 7000 pieces. For him, these collections are part of the history, which are the reflections of the region, the political and social changes in Arabic world.



Mr. Sheikh Hassan said ” I want to collect and I want to show these.” So in the mid-90s, he set up Mathaf, allowing people have accessibility to these collections. The initiative of the museum is simple --- people come and get the idea of modern Arabic art and use them as resource or reference.





Old Mathaf was located in two villas, which were near from current location but had not enough space for his huge collections. Therefore, Sheikh Hassan met Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, founder of Qatar foundation, to conceive how to use these collections as educational resources and inspired the citizens. The museum consequently moved to Education city and reopened in 2010.



Modern Arab art and contemporary art pieces are dominant in the museum. In the museum Arabic artists’ work are the majority but also from Egyptian, Iraqis, etc. Cross culture exhibition are also shown recent year, like Cai Guo-Qiang.
The blend of different culture enriches collections and brought Mathaf into world stage.



The uniqueness of Mathaf is its positioning. It aims to promote Arabic modern art Modern art from the region and internationally. People could visit the museum to admire and learn from art through various programs, which are designed for all ages. College students could participate in Mathaf Voices, an internship program, while children could interpret the meaning of the art through guided school visits with museum educators.



From private collection to the first modern art museum in Qatar, Mathaf is a local artistic voice. “Your place”, museum’s slogan, encourages people to visit the museum and learn from these Arabic art works. The young museum represents the vibrancy of Qatar and is regarded as a hub of modern art in the Middle East.

For me, the experience to participate in the event is beyond imagination. It would be hard to imagine that my first time to meet Finnish education is in Qatar.

It all began from one e-mail.



In late July, I sent my proposal to QFIS, hoping to visit their school. My initiative is quite simple -- the sparkle of two countries would be fascinating. Especially Finland is well known for its quality education and Qatar lays much emphasis on education.

I still remember how excited I am when receiving the reply from QFIS. The lead expert in the school, Ms. Tiina Raatikainen, mentioned about the status of quo of this newly founded school and this event. It was a surprise for me that she invited me to this grand event and gave me information about Qatar.

For these two countries that concentrate on education, the setup of this school is anticipated. The event is held in Hilton Doha in the Corniche, where I first step into five-starred hotel in Doha. The hotel is a classical Hilton-styled hotel but combines exotic atmosphere and marvelous beach.



The theme of the event is” Joy of learning”, which represent the core idea of Finnish education. Finnish education has been a role model of education in the world, for it respects individual’s talent and the use of Games learning. In the past PISA, Finland shows their strength of education and the world wowed.

In the beginning, Ms.Ratiikainen explained about the naming of the school. The concept of QFIS represents the vision of Qatar as well as the promise of Finnish education to root here, to provide the best education system in the world.

The principal of the school, Mr. Juha Repo, later introduced the core of Finnish education—provides opportunities to every student. Education is not limited to the élite. They hope that the stronger ones could take care of the weaker ones, allowing education becomes accessible to all.

What impressed me a lot is that they do not rank the students. For them, standardization is not a Finnish way because every student got their own talent. Education helps them to find out that, and equips students the ability to be responsible for their own deeds.



One of the highlight is the rethink of instructions. Mr. Juha described one scenario and suggested the participants to follow the steps. But if you want to get the result, you should not follow the instructions. This demonstrates the importance of thinking outside the box, what Finnish education cherishes.

‘’Now you all know Finnish education well!’’ Mr. Juha laughed.

In QFIS, providing quality education is the priority. All teachers in the school got master degree and have high enthusiasm to education.


Also, the collaboration between teachers and parents play important roles for the success. 16-year-old Ally, the “product “of Finnish education, shared her experience.
In her learning process, learning is always a joy. She mentioned about the importance of family in her learning journey. She even got in touch with the teachers in her early ages!

Although she is quite young, but she had already study abroad to UAE, where is quite different from her hometown. Even more, she actively participated in extracurricular activities. These experiences equipped her ability to face the challenges in life.
Ms.Tiina asked about her future plan.

“Not certain but anything international!” Ally said confidently.

From her eyes, I know that she really enjoys the whole process of learning.



Afterwards, I met Mr.Juha to figure out why they came to here. He mentioned about the invitation from Qatar prompted them to set up the school. Also, this promising country could be a great stage for them.



Before I back to home, I asked few questions to Ms. Tiina. Her answer demonstrates unique Finnish thinking to education. Games learning for them are more than a slogan. They provide holistic approaches to teach the students and inspire them.



For me, education is a process allows learners to achieve their goal. Finnish education system is far from Taiwan’s counterpart. The event is almost a cultural shock for me; even though I had read some reviews about Finnish education in Taiwan. But the whole process is inspiring.

I admire their respect to every learner. Everyone could be accessible to education, the most powerful tool in the world. Individual could find their strength and enjoyed the whole process.

I like that Ms. Tiina described my trip to Doha as ” learning journey’’. This is just the start for me in Doha. The whole experience is already more than I expected. I cannot wait to find out more about the story in Doha!