Latin American School of Medicine Scholarships

ELAM Scholarship Informational Session

Hear from Dr. Samira Addrey, current ELAM Scholarship Project Coordinator and recent ELAM graduate! We hope that this session paints a picture for what this scholarship represents and helps you decide if ELAM is the right program for you.

ELAM 2020 Graduate Dr. Samira Addrey. Samira Mifatou Addrey is a 2020 graduate of the Latin American School of Medicine in Cuba. She was born and raised in Accra, Ghana before migrating to the United States at the age of nine with her family. She believes in health as a human right and fulfilling the ethos of Cuban medical training which is based on solidarity, altruism and humanitarianism. Her field of interests include but are not limited to Rural Community Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Cultural Psychiatry.

 

Latin American School of Medicine

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. 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.

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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.

the permanent hurricane of poverty and underdevelopment kills more people every year than these hurricanes just did…

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 that 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 now includes students from 124 countries.

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?

ELAM Students Speak Out: Defund the Police. Fund the community. Fund Public Health.

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 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 50 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 in August. 

Curriculum

Pre-med preparatory semester(s)

  • Placement exams in basic sciences (biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics) and Spanish language
  • One or two semesters of preparatory classes in basic sciences and Spanish language, according to individual students’ needs and placement levels
  • 12-week intensive course in Spanish language for students who need it

Years I and II: Basic medical sciences

(students are in residence on the campus of the Latin American School of Medicine)

Morphophysiology — an integrative first-year basic sciences curriculum which includes:

  • Anatomy I and II
  • Histology I and II
  • The Human Body
  • Cellular and Molecular Biology
  • The Nervous System
  • The Endocrine and Reproductive Systems
  • Physiology I
  • Embryology I

History and Medicine I and II

Physical Education I and II

Medical Information Sciences/Computing I

Practicum placements in a regional policlinic and a family doctor’s neighborhood clinic

  • Metabolism, Nutrition, and Excretion
  • The Circulatory and Respiratory Systems
  • The Urinary and Digestive Systems, Nutrition and Caloric Consumption
  • Anatomy III
  • Histology III
  • Embryology II
  • Physiology II
  • Pharmacology I
  • Legal Medicine and Medical Ethics
  • Behavioral Sciences I
  • Physical Education III
  • Tissues/Nutrition/Biochemistry (two-week intensive course)
  • Pathological Anatomy
  • Biological Agents
  • Medical Psychology I
  • Introduction to Clinical Practice
  • Behavioral Sciences II
  • Physical Education IV
  • Medical Information Sciences/Computing II

Years III-VI: Clinical studies

(students are in residence at one of Cuba’s 21 accredited medical schools, in Havana City or in other provinces; starting in the fifth semester, they begin to follow patients on the hospital ward where they are assigned.)

  • Clinical Methods
  • Techniques of Clinical Diagnosis/Medical Semiology: Signs and Symptoms (Clinical Laboratory and Diagnostic Imagery)
  • Medical Psychology II
  • Internal Medicine
  • Clinical Pharmacology
  • Medical Information Sciences/Computing II

Clinical practicum rotations in

  • Comprehensive General Medicine: Family Practice
  • General Surgery
  • Gynecology and Obstetrics

Clinical practicum rotations in

  • Pediatrics

Clinical practicum rotations in

  • Public Health
  • Comprehensive General Medicine: Traditional and Natural Medicine Techniques
  • Psychiatry
  • Update in Therapeutic Techniques

Clinical practicum rotations in

  • Orthopedics and Traumatology
  • Urology
  • Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)
  • Ophthalmology
  • Dermatology
  • Legal Medicine and Medical Ethics

Pre-professional clinical internship, with rotations in

  • Internal Medicine
  • Pediatrics
  • Gynecology and Obstetrics
  • Surgery
  • Comprehensive General Medicine
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Frequently Asked Questions

All of the application criteria have been established by the Cuban medical school officials– the entity that makes the scholarship possible. As the sole organization in the US designated by the Cuban Ministry of Health to facilitate the ELAM medical scholarship for US candidates and out of solidarity with Cuba, IFCO respects the criteria established by the school and strictly adheres to all application requirements.
 
(Please note that in limited circumstances exceptions MAY be considered for those over 25. For more information about this, it is critical that potential applicants contact the IFCO office directly by calling 212-926-5757 Ext. 5.)

The standard course of study at the Latin American School of Medicine is seven years.  All classes are taught in Spanish. An additional semester of pre-med coursework is mandatory for all students. Intensive Spanish language training is offered to students who need it, before the start of the six-year course of medical study. The specific course offerings for each semester are listed below. The course of study for the seven-year program begins each September; the Spanish intensive course and the pre-med courses are offered in the fall and spring semester respectively

All students spend their first three years of study on the Latin American School of Medicine’s campus, along with all other international students. During these years, the curriculum focuses on the basic medical sciences and includes some practicum opportunities in neighborhood clinics. The first year of study follows an innovative plan called “morphophysiology,” which integrates the various basic sciences to enhance learning.

Starting the third year of medical study, students are located at one of Cuba’s 21 teaching hospitals, with Cuban and international students. (The US students are located in the City of Havana at the Salvador Allende Faculty of Medicine.) In these advanced years of study, supervised clinical practicum work on the hospital wards is incorporated with classroom and laboratory studies. The sixth year of medical study is the internship year, in which students complete rotations in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, surgery, and general medicine.

In terms of subject matter, the Cuban medical curriculum corresponds very closely with how medicine is taught in the US. The teaching style, however, is different: the Cuban schools emphasize cooperative rather than competitive learning, smaller class sizes, frequent oral exams, and intensive tutoring to help all students succeed.

Placement tests are administered to all incoming students to determine proficiency in the medical sciences and in Spanish.

The Latin American School of Medicine offers a semester of intensive Spanish language training to students who come to the program with little or no Spanish. The Spanish course is offered in the fall semester. Pre-med students who have Spanish proficiency will also receive Spanish classes while they are taking their pre-med courses.
 
Keep in mind that Spanish language “mastery” involves more than just casual conversational skills; students need to be sufficiently fluent in medical terminology in Spanish so that they can effectively ask, answer and understand questions — in Spanish.

In rare cases, admitted students who have completed one or more semesters of medical school training prior to their enrollment at the Latin American School of Medicine may be considered for advanced standing. Evaluations are done on a case-by-case basis, and involve detailed analysis of the students’ prior coursework by the faculty of the Latin American School of Medicine.

The first semester of each school year begins in early September. First-semester exams are generally given in mid-January and followed by a brief recess between semesters. During the recess, US students focus on practicum work, studies, and preparation for the USMLE licensing exams. Second semester begins in late February or early March (this varies in different academic years); second semester exams are usually given late June or early July.
Students who pass all their examinations on the first try will have vacation from mid-July until the end of August. (US students are strongly encouraged to use this vacation time for externships, research placements, and preparation for the USMLE exams.) This is the only official vacation period in the academic calendar. There is a short winter break between semesters, but administrators of the Latin American School of Medicine encourage students not to travel during this short period in the year, as not to lose focus on their studies.

Frequent oral exams are given in most classes and written mid-term and final examinations are given in all courses. Students who don’t pass a final exam on the first try are given two more weeks to study and get additional tutoring, and then can retake the exam. (This second try is called the “extraordinario.”) Students who don’t pass the extraordinario are able to retake the exam one more time in early August. (The third try is called the “mundial.”) Students who fail two or more mundial exams must repeat the entire academic year. This option to repeat a year can only be used once in the six-year course of study.

The Latin American School of Medicine is fully accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO), the recognized body which confers accreditation to all international schools of medicine. In the United States, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) oversees licensing requirements for medical students who study in schools outside the US. The ECFMG 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

Since the creation of ELAM, work has been undertaken to certify the quality of its teaching processes. In May 2014, both the institution itself and its medical studies program underwent an evaluation and accreditation process and were duly accredited. The Medical Education program was reaccredited as EXCELLENT in October 2019, and the institution itself was reaccredited as EXCELLENT in January 2020, the first university attached to the Ministry of Public Health to receive such exalted accreditation.   

Having completed the Cuban process and achieved its EXCELLENT status, ELAM may now pursue international accreditation, for which, as a UDUAL member. UDUAL is a non-profit, non-governmental organization recognized by UNESCO as the regional advisory authority with regard to university-level education in our region. Of the 14 universities that belong to MINSAP, both ELAM and the University of Medical Sciences of Havana are affiliated with UDUAL. ELAM has applied to that UDUAL’s Council for International Assessment and Accreditation (CEAI), following the same procedure already completed by the University of Havana. ELAM is now working intensively to put together its portfolio, per CEAI requirements. It is hoped that this international accreditation process will be successful before the end of this year, 2022. 

There is an Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) in the United States which is the agency authorized to guide and evaluate the qualifications of international doctors and graduates of medical schools outside the US who want to practice in that country or are seeking a residency program there. This Commission is also the entity that provides full resources and information about medical licensure and the examination for medical licensure in the US (USMLE), medical residencies themselves, and degree recognition. ECFMG has declared that by 2024, all international medical graduates applying for certification in the United States must have completed their medical studies at an institution internationally recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). 

 The Cuban Ministry of Health and Ministry of Higher Education are able to affirm, after expert studies, that there is a similarity between the WFME-proposed standards and those used in Cuba by JAN, which is directly responsible for the university accreditation process in Cuba, with a mandate to that effect. In the case of UDUAL’s CEAI, this is an institution acknowledged by UNESCO as the regional organization evaluation and consultation with regard to university education. Both JAN and UDUAL’s CEAI use standards or criteria that are comparable to those accepted worldwide. 

 ELAM and its medical education are a shining example of compliance with the accreditation procedures since both are recognized as EXCELLENT.  At the same time, Cuba’s National Accreditation Board (JAN) is a prestigious and renowned agency for accrediting these processes, and UDUAL is the organization recognized by UNESCO as the regional agency for assistance and consulting in the field of university education for our region. JAN, in turn, has its agency for assessing the quality of universities (CEAI), to which Cuban universities must apply, as set forth by the Ministry of Higher Education. The universities attached to the Ministry of Public Health are complying with this requirement.

UNESCO is the only specialized institution of the United Nations that has a higher education mandate and it approved the “Global Convention on the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications,” which is a binding agreement and the first one about higher education with global reach. In technical terms, therefore, Cuba must continue on this route to guarantee recognition abroad of the degrees of all of our graduates, and this is on track for completion before 2023.

 

 

In order to practice medicine in the US, students at the Latin American School of Medicine need to pass a series of US Medical Licensing Exams (USMLEs). These exams are required for all US students who study in any medical school, whether in the US or in another country. The Step 1 exam is a computer-based multiple-choice exam that 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.
Careful consideration has been given to the particular needs of US students as they prepare for these essential examinations. Faculty and administrators at the Latin American School of Medicine have analyzed the US Step exams to be sure that all anticipated items are covered in detail in their course offerings. Some slight adjustments have been made in the standard Cuban course sequence to accommodate the special needs of US students (for example, offering Pharmacology in an earlier semester so students can prepare for the Step 1 exam).
In addition, US physicians who are members of IFCO’s Medical School Advisory Committee offer supplementary short courses to the US students, in several subject areas which are included in the Step 1, Step 2CK, and Step 2CS exams, but which are taught from a different perspective in the Cuban curriculum — courses such as Medical Ethics, Legal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Nutrition.
Supplemental study groups are also established for all US students to help prepare them for the Step 1 exam. These study groups are considered mandatory — even though they are not a formal part of the Cuban curriculum — since all US students will need to be sufficiently prepared to pass the USMLE exams in order to practice in the US. Resources such as the “First Aid” study guides, sample tests, etc., are being made available to the US students. All students who study medicine in foreign medical schools and wish to practice medicine in the United States also need to complete a medical residency in the US. Residency placement in the various areas of specialization is a highly competitive process that is based in large part on students’ scores on the USMLE examinations.

Since US students first started enrolling in the Latin American School of Medicine in the spring of 2001, about 20% of enrolled students have left the program, and 80% have remained enrolled. This rate is exactly comparable to the attrition rate at any medical school in the US. Most of the students who have chosen to leave the program have left for personal or family reasons, or because studying medicine in Cuba just wasn’t a good fit for them. Very few have left for academic reasons.

The scholarship includes full tuition, dormitory housing, three meals per day at the campus cafeteria, textbooks in Spanish for all courses, bedding, and a small monthly stipend in Cuban pesos, school uniform (short-sleeved white lab coat; but you’ll probably want to bring your own dark blue pants (not jeans) or skirts, and your own comfortable black shoes). The scholarship does not include travel expenses to and from school; it does not include the fees for taking the USMLE exams; it does not include costs for supplemental English-language textbooks. IFCO has provided a small library of supplemental English-language medical textbooks for the use of the US students and other students from English-speaking countries.

Campus life at the Latin American School of Medicine is a vibrant, multi-cultural experience. Daily life is shared with students from more than 124 nations and the 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.
 
Dormitory accommodations are very spartan. Living conditions are quite modest, and students coming from the so-called ‘first-world’ environment of the US need to be prepared for this. Dormitory rooms have bunk beds and lots of people sharing space; and there are occasional power outages. Three meals a day are provided free of charge at the cafeteria, but the food is very simple: lots of rice and beans. Snack bars and small restaurants on and off campus provide inexpensive meals for a few US dollars or Cuban pesos.
 
All students are required to live in the dormitories on campus during the first two years of study (and any pre-med semesters). No special accommodations can be made for married students or for students with children.  Please note that NO exceptions are made to this rule.  Students should be prepared to make a number of lifestyle adjustments — to the Spanish-speaking environment, the relative lack of private space, and the spartan living conditions. Students who are open to making these adjustments — and who understand the incomparable value of what is being offered in this unique program — will also find the experience of campus life to be extraordinarily enriching.

Because of the US economic blockade imposed against Cuba, communications between the two countries are not always easy. E-mail availability on campus is limited, since many students share access to the campus computing center, where they can sign up for computer time. Internet access is also available from certain hotels for an hourly fee. Phone cards can be purchased for international calls. Cell phones are available.

Yes! — but it is important to understand the context.  As part of the US economic blockade against Cuba, restrictions have been imposed on US citizens’ travel to Cuba.  Students at the Latin American School of Medicine were initially considered exempt from these restrictions, since they 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 students enrolled in the Latin American School of Medicine.  Since then, under the Obama administration, travel restrictions for educational purposes have lightened and ELAM students can now travel without the special authorization. Thus, it is fully legal for US ELAM students to travel to and from school.
 
Under the Trump administration, the US government has undone much of what the previous administration did and has made it more difficult for US citizens to travel to Cuba. Thus far there have been no restrictions on student travel.
 
We continue working for an end to the travel restrictions and all US sanctions against Cuba — and we hope you will join us in this work.
Prospective students who wish to be considered for the US scholarship program at the Latin American School of Medicine must be US citizens (with a US passport), BETWEEN THE AGE OF 18 AND 25 AT THE TIME OF MATRICULATION** with proficiency of B- or better in college-level sciences (a minimum of one year each of biology, physics, general/inorganic chemistry, and organic chemistry (all with lab), and a commitment to practice medicine in low-income and medically under-served communities in the US after graduation. Persons of color and/or persons from low-income backgrounds are especially encouraged to apply.
 
Applicants must submit an application form, personal essays in English and Spanish, 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.
 
Those admitted into the program will have a final orientation just before traveling to Cuba to begin their studies.
 
** (Please note that in limited circumstances exceptions MAY be considered for those over 25. For more information about this it is critical that potential applicants contact the IFCO office directly by calling 212-926-5757 Ext. 5.)