First in Palestine and Third in the Arab World: Al-Quds University Wins YES Competition for Best Young Physician Speaker of 2022
Dentistry student Israa Bakr won third place in the 2022 Best Young Physician Speaker Competition (YES) held at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca at the end of October, as part of the International Mecca Dental Conference. She qualified among the six winners in the first round out of 26 competitors from Arab countries.
Bakr represented Al-Quds University as the only participant from Palestinian universities, presenting her scientific research on the impact of COVID-19 information sources on university students’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices. The research was supervised by the Dean of Scientific Research, Dr. Ilham Al-Khatib. Bakr distinguished herself with an outstanding presentation and her ability to detail information, in addition to the scientific evaluation of the research.
Dr. Al-Khatib expressed her pride in this victory, which confirms the university’s pursuit of creating a leading and rich research environment. She noted that the university participated in this important conference for the second time, and the conference, now in its second edition in the Arab region, includes final-year dental students who are required to present a clinical case or participate in research.
Student Israa said, “It is an honor for me to represent Palestine through my beloved Al-Quds University at this international conference for the Middle East and North Africa region. It is a happy moment to hear my beloved country’s name, Palestine, among the winners on the international scientific platforms.”
She thanked her research colleagues, adding, “This success would not have been possible without the support and efforts of the University’s Dean of Scientific Research in achieving its vision and the vision of the University President, Prof. Dr. Imad Abu Kishk, to support scientific research and researchers, both students and academics.”
Bakr is the principal researcher in the research submitted to the YES competition, in partnership with several of her dentistry peers. The research won the Al-Quds University Student Conference Award and the Young Researchers Conference in Qatar, and is published and ranked in the top quartile (Q1). In the latest competition, she competed for the top three positions among six students from various Arab universities.
