Medical School
Trained in Cuba, U.S. Doctors Describe Month in Haiti
by Renee Feltz, the Indypendent, March 12, 2010
After the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated Haiti, Dr. Melissa Barber received a call asking her to help treat people left injured and living in squalid conditions.
“There was no question,” said Barber, 30, who was born and raised in the Bronx and worked in quality assessment at St. Barnabas Hospital in the heart of the borough. “I actually resigned and I made plans to go to Haiti for a month. That is how much it’s ingrained in me to help the underserved communities when they are in need.”
Curriculum and plan of studies
An overview of the curriculum and general plan of studies at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba Read more >
Frequently Asked Questions
LATIN AMERICAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Full Scholarship Program to Study Medicine in Havana, Cuba
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What’s the story of the Latin American School of Medicine?
In 1998, when Hurricane Mitch devastated Nicaragua and Honduras, and Hurricane Georges lashed out at Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the Cuban government responded with a unique and generous offer. They immediately sent 2000 medical personnel to help out in the affected
countries. But Cuba contributed much more than just short-term emergency relief. They pointed out that “the permanent hurricane of poverty and underdevelopment kills more people every year than these hurricanes just did...” And Cuba presented a comprehensive plan to create long-term health-care solutions for the nations of Central America and the Caribbean which are chronically poor. The idea behind the Cuban health care plan is to save as many lives every year as were
lost in the hurricanes.
In 1988, the infant mortality rate in Nicaragua — before Hurricane Mitch — was 10 times as high as in Cuba; in Haiti it was nearly 20 times as high. And what was causing these high rates of infant death? Babies in the poorest regions die from very simple causes: dehydration, malnutrition, diarrhea, contagious diseases: problems that could be cured with a few pills, a little food or liquid, a simple vaccine. And, as Cuban President Fidel Castro said, it really wouldn’t be so difficult to save those babies’ lives. All that would be required, he said, is the medicines, and the medical personnel to administer them, and the political will to want to help.
Cuba has a highly sophisticated and world renowned health care system, and a surplus of well-trained physicians. And Cuba made a commitment to start training young people from Nicaragua, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti to be doctors — in order to create a
health-care infrastructure to serve future generations in these impoverished nations.
This is how the Latin American Medical School was founded: Cuba offered 500 full scholarships per year, for the next ten years, to students from the four nations affected by Hurricanes Mitch and Georges. In this way, Cuba would be training 5000 new doctors — young people who would not otherwise have had access to medical education — to serve in communities which had never
had access to quality medical care. The only condition attached to the scholarship was that the students had to make a commitment to return to their home countries, where they would provide medical service in the communities where they were most needed — the poorest, the hardest-hit, the most remote communities of their home countries. The campus of a former naval academy on Cuba’s north coast, just west of Havana, was quickly refurbished for this purpose, and the Latin American School of Medicine opened officially in March 1999.
The program was tremendously successful from the time it started. Other nations heard about the program and inquired about sending their own students. The program quickly grew to include students from 30 nations of Africa and the Americas, and just recently expanded again to include more than 40 nations from many parts of the world. The Cuban Ministry of Public Health has been able to accommodate the growth because of the large number of trained physicians and
professors in Cuba, and because of their unwavering commitment to the program.
Why are students from the United States studying medicine in Cuba?
The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) has been working since 1991 on a variety of projects to bring about reconciliation and normalized relations between the United
States and Cuba, and to challenge the immoral US economic blockade of Cuba. [See below for more information about IFCO’s work.] Since 1999, IFCO has been working with the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), organizing Congressional delegations to visit Cuba.* It was during one of these delegations in May 2000 that Cuban medical school scholarships were first offered to US students. On the last night of their visit, the CBC delegation had an opportunity to meet with
Cuban President Castro. In that meeting, a Congressman from the Mississippi Delta commended Cuba “for all that you have done to provide health care for the poorest people of the world.” He had visited the Latin American Medical School, and had seen Cuba’s exemplary health care system. He had heard about the services offered free of charge by Cuban doctors in Latin America and Africa. He had heard about Cuba’s free treatment of more than 16,000 young victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine. He had been to Africa and visited a brand-new hospital in the Gambia — which turned out to have been built and staffed entirely by Cubans. He went on to talk about the critical shortage of health care services in his own home district in Mississippi.
President Castro responded in detail to the Congressman’s words. He indicated that he was aware of the living conditions and the lack of health care services in Mississippi, and in other so-called ‘third-world’ regions of our ‘first-world’ nation. And he extended an invitation for young people from Mississippi to study at the Latin American School of Medicine.
Later in June 2000, the Cuban Minister of Public Health visited Washington, DC for a meeting of the Pan American Health Organization. In a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, he expanded the invitation, offering not just to the Mississippi Delta but to all the districts represented by the Congressional Black Caucus the opportunity to nominate students to the Latin American Medical School.
Then, in September 2000, President Castro visited New York City to participate in the Millennium Summit of the United Nations. In his historic speech at the Riverside Church, he once again expanded the medical school scholarship offer — to qualified students from all regions of the United States, from low-income communities and communities of color, who would not otherwise have access to medical education. He noted that a medical education in the US can cost more than $200,000; and he said that Cuba was interested in providing medical training to qualified students who are committed to working in medically under-served communities in the US, but would not be able to do so if they graduated with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.
IFCO — because of its excellent working relations with many sectors in Cuba, and with the Congressional Black Caucus, and because of its history of more than 40 years of creative community organizing for social, racial, and economic justice in communities across the US — was in a unique position to assume responsibility for administering the scholarship program for US students. The first US students entered the program in the spring of 2001. By the spring of 2010, 122 US students from 29 states plus Puerto Rico and Washington, DC are enrolled, and 33 US students have already graduated with MD degrees. New students are admitted to enter the Latin American School of Medicine each February and August. Admissions requirements are
described below.
What about the curriculum and course of study?
The standard course of study at the Latin American School of Medicine is six years. All classes are taught in Spanish. Additional semesters of pre-med coursework and intensive Spanish language training are offered to students who need them, during one or more semesters before the start of the six-year course of study. (See below for more information.) The specific course offerings for each semester are listed below. The course of study for the six-year program begins each September; the Spanish intensive course is offered in the fall semester, and the pre-med course review semester is offered in the spring semester.
*thanks to generous support from the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, the Arca Foundation, and the General Service Foundation.
language should plan to enter the program in the fall semester. These students would be enrolled for seven years of study.
fully recognizes any medical school which is certified by its own government’s Ministry of Health. Therefore students who study at the Latin American Medical School are considered by the ECFMG to have received a fully accredited medical education. The Latin American School of Medicine has also been evaluated and fully accredited by the Medical Board of California, which has the most stringent standards of any state in the US. This means that graduates of the Latin American
School of Medicine are recognized as fully qualified to apply for medical residency in any state of the US.
need to pass a series of US Medical Licensing Exams (USMLEs). These are the same requirements that apply to any US student who studies in any medical school, whether in the US or in another country. The Step 1 exam is a computer-based multiple-choice exam which focuses on the
basic medical sciences. The Step 2CK exam focuses on clinical knowledge. The Step 2CS exam tests clinical skills: the student actually interacts with model patients in a simulated clinical
setting. These Steps can be taken in any order after the second year of medical school, with the written agreement of the dean of the medical school. Students at the Latin American School of Medicine begin their studies for the USMLEs starting with their first-year courses, and begin to sit for the exams after the third year of study. In addition, each student must complete a residency program in the United States, and must take the Step 3 exam during the residency program.
textbooks. IFCO is working to provide a small library of supplemental English-language medical textbooks for the use of the US students and other students from English-speaking countries.
richness of this cultural diversity is celebrated by the school. Student delegations from each nationality organize “Culture Night” galas in which they showcase and share their own cultural traditions.
inexpensive meals for a few US dollars or Cuban pesos.
were “fully hosted” — with all their expenses paid by the Cuban Ministry of Health. When President Bush, in an attempt to appeal to ultra-right-wing Cuban-American voters in Florida, tightened restrictions against Cuba in June 2004, the “fully hosted” category was eliminated and the students’ status was threatened. But IFCO launched a tremendous grassroots campaign of calls and letters to the US Treasury and State Departments, and 28 members of the Congressional
Black and Hispanic Caucuses wrote a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, insisting on the students’ right to continue their studies. Our campaign was victorious: the US government granted a special travel authorization for all present and future students enrolled in the Latin American School of Medicine. Thus it is fully legal for students to travel to and from school.
social ministry in many local churches. IFCO’s work has focused on both domestic and international issues: on civil and human rights, education, housing, and health care; women’s rights, farmworkers’ rights, Native Americans’ rights; sterilization abuse, grand jury abuse; and the support of liberation struggles around the world. Among the tools IFCO has used to fulfill its mission are technical assistance, training, grassroots education, networking, and the creation of new organizing models.
caravan was to galvanize direct hands-on solidarity with the victims of US foreign policy in Nicaragua — to educate US citizens at the grassroots about the brutality of US policy, and to engage them in actively resisting that policy by sending aid to the Nicaraguan people. The project has grown and generalized; since 1988, we have successfully organized more than 50 caravans of aid to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Chiapas (Mexico) and Cuba. In many
ways, the culmination of this work has been the series of 20 “Friendshipment” caravans which IFCO/Pastors for Peace has taken to Cuba. These caravans have delivered more than 3000 tons of
humanitarian aid to the Cuban people, as a nonviolent direct challenge to the brutal US economic blockade of Cuba. The caravans have also provided an opportunity for numerous US citizens to see Cuba with their own eyes. In addition to the Pastors for Peace/Friendshipment caravans, IFCO organizes study tours, delegations, construction brigades, speaking tours, exchanges, and advocacy projects, all in favor of a more humane US foreign policy in our hemisphere.
Applicants must submit an application form, personal essay, transcripts, letters of reference, medical history, and other documents. A personal interview is required; MCATs are not required. Applications are screened by IFCO’s Medical School Advisory Committee, which is made up of physicians, professors, and other professionals. Selected applicants will be invited to participate in a two-day group orientation program, which serves as an additional step in the screening process. When the Medical School Advisory Committee has made its final recommendations, the files of selected applicants are submitted to the administrators of the Latin American Medical School and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health; they make the final admissions decisions.
Please contact IFCO for application forms or more additional information:
Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)
418 West 145th Street
New York, NY 10031
212/926-5757
212/926-5842 (fax)
Help us spread the word about this extraordinary opportunity!
The Scholarship Program for US Students at the Latin American School of Medicine
An overview of the scholarship program for US students at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba. Read more >
NYC Update Honduras- After the Media Spotlight Leaves w/ Dr. Luther Castillo
Join us as we welcome Dr. Luther Castillo to New York City.
“After the Media Spotlight Leaves: Continuing Solidarity with Haiti
and Honduras”
Forum, film and discussion
Friday April 16th
7:00pm
La Resurreccion United Methodist Church
790 Elton Ave @ E 158th St, the Bronx, 10451
(1 Block East of E 158th St and 3rd Ave, take the 2 or 5 train or the
BX19 bus to E 149th St and 3rd Ave or take the BX06 bus to E 161st and
Washington Ave)
We will be showing the new film “Fireflies in the Night” about the
Henry Reeve Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti.
Dr. Luther Castillo M.D., spokesperson for the People’s Front for
National Resistance in Honduras, joins us once again in New York City
to share his recent experiences in the struggle to defend democracy
and human rights in Honduras following the military coup of June 28th,
2009.
As a graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine (LASM), Dr.
Castillo, a young Garifuna (African and indigenous descendant) doctor,
is the founder and director of the first hospital on the Atlantic
coast of Honduras that provides the Garifuna community with
healthcare.
Dr. Castillo is also the co-coordinator of the Latin American School
of Medicine's International Henry Reeve Brigade, and has spent the
last 2 months in Haiti working alongside more than 1000 Cuban doctors,
LASM graduates from 26 nations, and Haitian LASM students and
graduates providing emergency medicine as well as basic medical and
psychological care to hundreds of thousands of Haitians.
We will also have updates about IFCO’s collaboration with Local 100 of
the Transport Workers Union to organize a container shipment of
medicines, medical supplies, tents and cots to Haiti at the end of
April.
For questions and more information please call 212-926-5757 or e-mail
ifco@igc.org
Why I studied medicine in Cuba - ELAM Presentations in Maine
Why I studied medicine in Cuba
Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine prepares new doctors at absolutely no cost to the students. Some 10,000 of them are studying there, and 1500 graduate every year. They come from 30 countries, including eight African nations. They have committed to serving the underserved when they become physicians.
Lillian Holloway will be speaking in Maine about Cuban Health care and about opportunities for U.S. students to study at the Latin American School of Medicine. Presently 120 of them are enrolled at the School.
Dr. Holloway grew up in West Philadelphia and worked as a certified nursing assistant before deciding to study medicine. She will soon enter a residency training program preparing her either for family practice or emergency medicine.
In Maine Dr. Holloway will be accompanied by Ellen Bernstein, Associate Director of Pastors for Peace. That organization recruits students for the Latin American School of Medicine and provides them with administrative support.
There will be three presentations
Wednesday, April 14 at 6:30 PM at the University of Southern Maine, Glickman Library, 7th Floor, 314 Forest Avenue in Portland
Thursday, April 15 at 12 PM at the University of Maine, Augusta, Honor’s Lounge of the Randall Technology Building
Thursday, April 15 at 7 PM at Bowdoin College Cram Alumni Barn, 83 Federal Street, Brunswick
For more information, call Tom Whitney at (207) 743-2183
For information about the Latin American School of Medicine, go to: www.ifconews.org.
Haiti Talkback @ Riverside Church: New York City
* Leaflet attached below - print some to give to a friend!
US Graduates of Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine will speak about their month of medical service in Haiti.
The doctors will be speaking about their first-hand experience working in the Croix des Bouquets Field Hospital, where they spent a month working and living in tents, seeing and treating hundreds of patients each day since their arrival in Haiti in early February.
These young women physicians - who come from Harlem, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island are the U.S. part of an international contingent of more than 200 young doctors from 25 different countries, all graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine, currently providing medical services in Haiti.
Co-organized by the Riverside Church Haiti Project and IFCO/Pastors for Peace.
Palante Salsa Dance Party for Haiti! Ithaca, NY
JOIN US!
7:30PM Cris McConkey of Ithaca Friends of Cuba will present on IFCO campaign and inter-American solidarity efforts with the people of Haiti.
8:30PM Rhythm with Drumming Dance Workshop
9PM Free Survival Latin Dance Lesson
Admission $4 Students, $6 Non-Students
$1 Draft Beer, $2 Imported Drafts
18+ ID Required, $4 Students/$6 Non-Students
Palante’s solidarity work with Haiti is taking place in collaboration
with Ithaca Friends of Cuba (IFC) and other local partners. Our campaign
is grassroots – we seek broad community participation to make it as
successful as possible. We are working with the Interreligious
Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)/Pastors for Peace and the
Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees (HWHR), both based in New York City,
and allied with sister organizations on the ground in Jacmel and
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. IFCO and HWHR make frequent visits to bring
supplies and work with the Cuban Medical Team in Haiti, which is
comprised of 350 doctors and other medical personnel. (Learn more at
http://www.ifconews.org/node/723.) On Tuesday, IFCO sent seven doctors
with 750 lbs of medical supplies to Haiti. More is coming. Palante and
IFC's grassroots campaign kicks off this Saturday at our 7:30pm
presentation at the Big Red Barn. The collection drive is currently
underway and you can begin to help right now! Read through to bottom of
email to find out how.
PRESENTATION
Cris McConkey of Ithaca Friends of Cuba will lead presentation on IFCO
campaign and inter-American solidarity efforts with the people of Haiti.
Comparative approaches to disaster preparation and relief will be
discussed. Of particular interest is a comparison of solidarity based
crisis response, with teams already in place before disasters strike,
and models premised on good will fused with geopolitical, corporate and
military considerations, which comprise part of United States and United
Nations strategy.
FEATURING... REVEREND LUCIUS WALKER, Recorded Interview
Radio Interview of Reverend Lucius Walker with Tavis Smiley, accompanied
by slide show
Listen to interview now at:
http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/guests10/012910/LuciusWalker.html
Reverend Lucius Walker is the founder of IFCO/Pastors for Peace. In this
interview he tells us about the US-born, Cuban-trained doctors headed to
Haiti [now in Haiti] and why their unique training has prepared them for
this mission. Interview was conducted on 1/29 and aired on the Tavis
Smiley Show on 2/3.
MAY ALSO INCLUDE: MANOLO DE LOS SANTOS, Interview from the Dominican
Republic via Skype
Manolo de los Santos is a Caravan and youth organizer with IFCO/Pastors
for Peace as well as deacon of the Iglesia San Romero de Las
Americas-UCC in New York City. The goal of this ministry is “the
empowerment and enrichment of New York City’s Latino/Hispanic
communities… on the basis of the social and political dimensions of
their spirituality.” (For more info, Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7877143707.) Manolo accompanied
seven US doctors, all graduates of the Latin American School of
Medicine, into Haiti on Wednesday. The seven young women physicians
arrived in Haiti to begin a month or more of medical service alongside
the Cuban medical brigade. The doctors come from Harlem, Brooklyn, the
Bronx, and Staten Island in New York City; from Houston and from
Minnesota. Two of them are currently working in Oakland, CA. A number of
their fellow graduates are hoping to join them soon for the urgent work
in Haiti. Manolo arrived in the Dominican Republic yesterday.
HELP NOW
Join us in our local support effort on campus and in the Ithaca
community by setting up a collections box. See attached documents:
1. Print out the Haiti Donations sign and Supplies list attached to this
email. Tape them to any box that can be used for donations.
2. Set box out at your office, department, workplace, church, or other
community space you are connected to.
3. Email the supplies list to your friends, colleagues and coworkers and
tell them what you’re doing.
4. When box is full, call Jonathan Kline at the number on the donations
sign (607-387-5718) or email palante@cornell.edu. We will arrange to
have it picked up. We will store the supplies and get them to New York
City periodically.*
* Volunteer drivers for local pickup and New York City drop-off, and
offers of storage space, are welcome and much appreciated. Storage space
must be of moderate temperature and low to medium humidity.
MORE INFO
SalsaSon Latin Dance Party-Haiti Solidarity Event Website:
http://www.palantetroupe.org/events.html
Ithaca Friends of Cuba: http://www.ithacacubafriendship.org/
IFCO Website: http://www.ifconews.org/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=263802044309
LOCAL SPONSORS & COLLABORATORS
Proyecto Palante, Ithaca Friends of Cuba, Latino Studies Program,
Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations, Salsa en Rueda Dance Troupe
Palante. This list is growing. If your organization wants to be a part
of this, please send email to palante@cornell.edu.
Friday Feb 5 -Riverside Church NYC- Brahms Requiem -to Benefit IFCO Medical Aid to Haiti
Fear No Frontier’s Symphony of Dreams Haiti Memorial Benefit Concert
Benefit concert for Haiti - Proceeds go to IFCO/Pastors for Peace Haiti Medical Relief
Fund.
Over 100 of New York City’s finest musicians will come together to
present a “once-in-a-lifetime” performance of the venerable Brahms
Requiem at the majestic Riverside Church in Manhattan on Friday
Feb.5th at 8:00PM.
For Tickets Call 888-71-tickets ($15 in advance, $10 Seniors and
Students, and $20 at the door). Representatives from IFCO will be on
hand to accept tax deductible donations.
There will be an encore performance the following night, Saturday Feb.
6th, also at 8:00PM, at the Our Lady of Refuge Church in Brooklyn.
The new philharmonic orchestra and choir conducted by will be
conducted by maestro Joseph Jones, who has appeared with the MIT
Summer Philharmonic, the Moscow Symphony and the Orchestra Sinfonica
de Coyo in Argentina.
Fear No Frontier’s Symphony of Dreams performance of Brahms Requiem
also features soprano Michelle Trovato, winner of numerous national
and international awards from Albania to Washington (including the
Metropolitan Opera National Council) and baritone Austin Larusson,
with a Special Guest Appearance by “deSouza” ~ an a capella family
singing group from Australia with music sales and fans spanning the
globe.
Sponsored by IFCO/Pastors for Peace (http://ifconews.org), Fear No
Frontier ~ A Symphony of Dreams is presenting this Memorial Concert
Benefit not only to commemorate those lost in the Haiti earthquake
tragedy, but to also help get medical support to those still living
who need it now.
IFCO/Pastor for Peace Representatives will be on hand to accept the
tax-deductible donations. Visit http://symphonyforhaiti.org for more
information.
Proceeds will immediately go to provide medicine and other relief
supplies for doctors and medical personnel in Haiti.
Fear No Frontier’s trust-bond is to raise awareness of worldwide
suffering and injustice, and to take action to help correct these
conditions.
Haiti Medical Relief: Lucius Walker on Tavis Smiley Show
http://www.tavissmileyradio.com/guests10/012910/LuciusWalker.html
Hear Rev. Lucius Walker talk about the eight US graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine who are headed to Haiti. Read more >
