An award-winning school, considered one of the most outstanding schools in Qatar, offering a rigorous American curriculum for Grades 5 through 12, focusing on Health sciences, Engineering, Business Administration, and Information Technology.

Doha, Qatar, 18  March 2023 – Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions-Qatar (DeBakey, Qatar) is the first medical science-focused school in the Middle East. The award-winning school is considered one of the most outstanding schools in Qatar, offering a rigorous American curriculum for Grades 5 through 12, focusing on Health sciences, Engineering, Business Administration, and Information Technology.

Named in honor of renowned heart surgeon and medical researcher Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, DeBakey, Qatar opened its campus in Qatar in September 2008 in Al Messila, within the vicinity of Hamad Medical Center, to provide a rigorous American curriculum and academic excellence in science, engineering, mathematics, and medical sciences. DeBakey High school has become one of only two schools in the world to bear the name of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, modeled after the Houston, Texas high school that he helped create in partnership with the Baylor Medical College of Medicine and the Houston Independent School District.
DeBakey, Qatar offers distinguished academic experiences including being the only high school in Qatar that integrates medical internship in the curriculum that includes multiple collaborations and partnerships with leading medical organizations and educational institutions inside Qatar and internationally. The school offers Advanced Placement courses through College Board, providing students with the competitive edge for acceptance to local as well as international universities. Given the rigorous academic schedule class size is held at a ratio of 15:1. DeBakey is the only private school in Qatar that has four Doctorate holders and 20 team members who hold Master’s degrees. Student achievement include 100% graduation and 100% university acceptance rates. 

DeBakey’s 2020-2021 school year introduced a Simulation Lab (SimLab), the first of its kind for a high school in Qatar, to facilitate training of medical simulation for our health science and science students.  By using life like manikins, students learn and put into practice the patient/health care worker interaction that happens in a healthcare setting, and explore different medical subjects, illnesses, and the anatomy.

Dr. Virginia Parras, President/CEO of Michael E. DeBakey High School for Health Professions–Qatar, said: “DeBakey High school has long been the establishment propelling a new generation of innovators and disruptors in the medical and engineering fields. We keep the memory and the work of our founder alive by empowering and preparing future healthcare workers, engineers, tech and business executives with the academic excellence and disposition needed to lead and succeed in a 21st century global society”.

Known for its groundbreaking medical programs, DeBakey Qatar strives to let students experience a wide range of innovative initiatives and academic and leadership programs to provide an enriching and integrative learning experience. In 2021, DeBakey High became the first high school in the region to livestream the first-ever open-heart surgery from the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, in Houston, Texas, which was attended by more than 300 students and educators from the school and medical universities in Doha.  DeBakey High has hosted three NASA astronauts, introducing its students to cutting edge technology and innovation.
Given its history of leadership and innovation, DeBakey High school has sustained its status as an Outstanding School and has become a model for others locally and internationally. The school is fully accredited by the WASC Accrediting Committee for Schools.

DeBakey High school’s Alumni have gone on to greater heights, excelling at distinguished academic institutes, including flagship universities in the United States, England, Qatar, and Canada namely Penn State University, University of Texas-Austin, Weil Cornell College of Medicine, Texas A& M, Georgetown and Qatar University, and Carnegie Mellon University, among other leading universities around the world.