U.S. med students arrive in Cuba
By Nadia Marsh,
M.D.
Havana
When the plane landed here at midnight on April 4 carrying
eight young people from the United States who are planning to
study medicine in Cuba, it was a historic moment.
The medical students already enrolled at the Latin
American School of Medical Sciences had been waiting
anxiously for them at the airport.
The students of the international medical school,
representing 23 countries in Latin America and Africa, were
lined up in their white coats. They extended handshakes and
warm embraces to their North American brothers and sisters,
who had come to Cuba to study medicine and the art of
doctoring with them.
This is the first time since the U.S. blockade against
Cuba that U.S. students will be offered scholarships and
matriculated into a Cuban university.
The next day, hundreds of students and professors packed
the medical school auditorium. For over three hours students
from diverse Latin American countries and Africa performed
indigenous musical pieces and dances from their respective
countries to celebrate the arrival of their U.S.
counterparts.
"This is only a modest beginning based on a revolutionary
and visionary idea of President Fidel Castro," the Rev.
Lucius Walker, director of Pastors for Peace, told the
gathering. Walker had coordinated the outreach and acceptance
process in the U.S. for the Cuban medical school.
"We are sure that [Cuba] will open your arms and receive
us like your own," he added.
President Castro's offer
These eight students are able to get full medical training
in Cuba as a result of an offer made by President Fidel
Castro last Sept. 8 at Riverside Church in Harlem. Before a
crowd of thousands, he discussed Cuba's plans to offer free
scholarships to poor and disadvantaged students from the
United States.
President Castro emphasized that the U.S. students must
meet several criteria. They should have a strong academic
record, come from poor and minority backgrounds, and most
importantly, have a deep commitment to serving their
disadvantaged communities back home.
President Castro's offer reflects Cuba's long tradition of
international medical work.
Since Cuba sent its first internationalist brigade of 56
medical personnel to Algeria in May 1963, more than 57,000
doctors and nurses have been sent around the world to every
continent.
That total is higher than the number sent by the World
Health Organization.
More recently, 800 Cuban doctors have revamped a collapsed
medical system in Haiti. In 1998, 121 doctors arrived in
Honduras and began providing medical aid to an estimated 1.2
million patients.
The Cuban offer is made possible because Cuba's socialist
educational system, like its health system, is free and
available to all.
The U.S. students come from New York, Florida, Texas,
California, Minnesota and Illinois. They are from low-income
families. They are Latino, African American and Asian.
They are excited about implementing their Cuban medical
training in the U.S. when they graduate. "We've never had
much. I know my parents had to sacrifice to get us health
care. My lifelong dream has been to open a free clinic for
those who can't get health care," said Nadege Loiseau, a
25-year-old student from Florida.
A daughter of Haitian immigrants, Loiseau plans to
specialize in obstetrics or pediatrics. One of eight children
who had to work while in college, she now has a chance at a
career that otherwise might have been impossible. The cost of
$200,000 for medical school in the U.S. was a major obstacle
to fulfilling her dream.
For these six women and two men, studying medicine in Cuba
was a dream come true.
"This is an opportunity to study medicine, become a great
doctor, and at the same learn about the Cuban medical system"
said Karima Mosi, 22, from San Diego. As a biology major at
the University of California at San Diego, Mosi became
inspired by Cuba's system of family medicine and emphasis on
good doctor-patient relationships.
The opportunity to live in a revolutionary country and
learn from students around the world was the most exciting
part of studying in Cuba, said one student.
Poverty and health care in the U.S.
Despite the $8-trillion gross national pro duct in the
U.S., 44.3 million people, or 16.3 percent of the population,
remain unin sured; 100,000 more are added to their ranks each
month. Those most likely to lack health insurance are young
adults in the 18-to-24-year-old age group, immigrants and
minority groups.
When it comes to health care, vast tracts of the U.S.
resemble the Third World. One in every five children is born
into poverty. For African American children, the official
poverty rate is as high as one in two.
It is one of the great ironies of history that, 40 years
into the U.S. blockade against Cuba, this small and
relatively poor country is embarking on training medical
students from the richest and most technologically advanced
country in the world.
Nadia Marsh is a physician at Harlem Hospital and
member of the medical committee that accompanied the students
to Cuba on April 3-6.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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