Studying Abroad: A Matter of Biomedical Engineering from Cyprus to Gaza
Qasim Al Yazji is 30 years old and married with two children. Living in Gaza city, Qasim has been working as a bio-medical engineer at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza for almost three years. Qasim was a distinguished student in his secondary school, scoring a cumulative 92.4%. He went on to study Bio-medical Engineering at Cairo University in Egypt, as this specialty is not available in Gaza even now, except for a Diploma of Assistant Engineering qualification.
Applying for an Al Fakhoora scholarship, Qasim was looking forward to advancing his expertise, particularly with the massive need in Gaza for highly qualified people to operate medical equipment. With a strong presentation and career plans that defined clear commitment of return to Gaza’s Shifa Hospital Qasim also worked in the teaching field where he taught students studying for their Bio-medical Engineering Diploma. For Qasim, “I wanted to enhance my knowledge and experience so I can manage complicated problems with medical equipment as well as enrich the market by being a highly qualified academic. I am so dedicated to see that Gaza gets this capacity in the Bio-medical Engineering field.”
Qasim was accepted to pursue his Master Degree in Bio-medical Engineering in Near East University in Cyprus in 2012. Leaving Gaza with his family, Qasim said that, “The course and the university were excellent, but very busy and extensive. The best part was research, where we did, for example, a full design for a knee joint. This has enhanced my expertise in artificial limbs which is in fact a promising field in Gaza where the Qatari government is now building a hospital for artificial limbs, the first of its kind in Palestine.”
Qasim added, “Being an English taught program was so useful and has helped me to cope with all the names of equipment and spare parts.”
Qasim finished and earned his Master Degree in March 2014 with a 3.7 out of 4, which is a remarkable achievement, putting him among the top students at the university.
Qasim concluded, “I feel so blessed to have this specialty in Gaza and soon I will be promoted to senior Bio-medical Engineer at Shifa Hospital.”
