Google – AFP, Rigoberto Diaz (AFP), 31 October 2013
Students
take anatomy lessons at the Latin American Medicine School (ELAM),
on October
14, 2013 in Havana (AFP/File, Adalberto Roque)
|
Havana — On
a beach outside Havana stands the crown jewel of Cuba's renowned international
program of medical education, training 13,000 students from around the world
free of charge.
"Studying
medicine was my life's dream. But for a poor family like mine, that was
impossible," 18-year-old Merady Gomez of Honduras told AFP at the Latin
American School of Medicine (ELAM).
"Here,
I am making my dream come true, and I have high hopes of being able to help my
country. This school is a blessing."
Students
take anatomy lessons at the
Latin American Medicine School (ELAM)
, on October
14, 2013 in Havana (AFP/File,
Adalberto Roque)
|
Spread across
120 hectares (297 acres) dotted with palm trees, its 28 buildings, recently
painted in blue and white, hold more than 130 classrooms, labs, dormitories,
cafeterias and a hospital.
ELAM is one
of three universities launched by Cuban revolutionary leader and former
president Fidel Castro to boost his international credentials, with the other
two dedicated to sports and film.
But unlike
the film school, it has always been free, representing Castro's view that
healthcare is a fundamental right.
With an
average of one doctor per 148 inhabitants, Cuba is among the best-served
countries in terms of health, according to the World Health Organization.
Ahmed Bokovi, a 22-year-old from Chad, thanked "God and Cuba" for giving him this "great opportunity to study medicine for free."
Douglas Macheri, 20, of Zimbabwe said he was following in the footsteps of his father, who studied medicine in Cuba before returning home to treat the poor in his country.
Of the
13,282 students currently enrolled, only 1,349 live in Santa Fe, where the
first two years of the six-year program are taught.
The rest of
the coursework is taught in more than a dozen institutions spread across the
communist island, all in Spanish.
The school
trains students in nearly all medical specialties, and students often choose
their focus depending on the needs of their home country.
Students
take lessons at the Latin
American Medicine School (ELAM),
on October 14, 2013
in Havana (AFP/
File, Adalberto Roque)
|
"One
of our big successes is that we are like a big family, despite our many ethnic,
cultural, religious or political differences," said Victor Diaz of the
school's external relations team.
In the 14
years since it first opened its doors, explained co-director Heidi Soca, ELAM
has graduated 17,272 doctors from 70 countries, "with the basic objective
of having them return to their home countries and work with the most
disadvantaged people."
But the
school is not without its critics. Many of Cuba's opponents abroad claim the
island's communist regime is using school to indoctrinate a global network of
leftist medical professionals.
Soca
rejects this.
"No
politics at school," she insisted. "Here, we study medicine humanely
and in solidarity... Not like other countries where medicine is considered a
merchandise."
She said
critics were just frustrated to see ELAM students compete with more
"commercial doctors".
"Our
students often go work in places where local doctors do not want to go, and
their scientific and technical level is recognized around the world," she
added.
ELAM's
internationalist mission carries it beyond Cuba's shores. The school leads
training programs in 67 countries and serves 26,000 students.
But Cuba
has fallen on hard economic times. And ELAM's ability to provide quality
education free of charge is being eroded.
Students
take lessons at the Latin American
Medicine School (ELAM), on October 14,
2013
in Havana (AFP/File, Adalberto Roque)
|
"The
country's economic hardship is no secret to anyone, and we need to find new
sources of funding," Soca acknowledged.
One of the
solutions being studied is to make students pay for specialized studies.
Cuba is now
being forced to boost the number of bilateral agreements with different
countries so that they can pay for part of the costs currently assumed by
Havana.
Among the
experts in training is an Ecuadoran couple -- Ingrid Toapanda, 28, and Fernando
Cruz, 31.
They are
finishing a specialization in clinical genetic medicine, after working with the
Cuban mission in Haiti and with handicapped people in Ecuador.
"After
so many years living away from family, it's true that you lose something. But
the reward is this unique opportunity Cuba provides to train us and allow us to
give back this knowledge to our people," Toapanda said.
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