The Social Medicine Portal

Update from US students studying medicine in Cuba (June 2009)

Here is the latest update from from Joanna Mae Souers, one of the US students studying medicine on scholarship in Cuba:

June 2009

Today there are 148 American students studying medicine at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana.  They study within Cuba’s world-renowned system of universal health care.  Despite Cuba being a “poor” country, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranks the Cuban system among the top 10 in the world.  They study thanks to a scholarship provided within the same system of humanitarian medical  solidarity that has placed more than 21,000 Cuban doctors in poor third-world countries.

The 148 students originate from some of America’s poorest and most medically under-served communities. After graduating they plan, in line with the encouragement of the Cuban Government and our own Congressional Black Caucus, to serve the very same under-served communities from which they came.

As students attending ELAM we, have been given an opportunity to do something that has never been done before. On July 26, 2009, 12 American students from ELAM will board an RV for a road-trip of the Southwestern United States. Together we will spend two weeks as humble guests visiting Native American reservations, neighboring communities, hospitals and colleges to spread the word about our medical school opportunity and foster an exchange of information between all participating groups.

As we approach the one month mark in our countdown to departure we are motivated, poised, and excited about the road ahead us.  We are busy preparing for the exchange; writing up the material we hope to present, learning about the different communities we plan to visit and organizing our curriculum of exchange with guidance from our community liaisons.  So far we hope to visit with the following communities and organizations:

• The Oakland Health Fair, California
• Bay Area Native American Health Center, California
• California Consortium for Urban Health
• La Clinica de la Raza, Oakland, California
• California City College
• University of California at Berkley
• Fresno Clinic, California
• Fresno City College, California
• Los Angeles Indian Health Services, California
• Arizona Indian Health Services
• Windowrock, Arizona
• Gallup, New Mexico
• One Hope Clinic, Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico
• Pueblo Indian Cultural Center, New Mexico
• Pajarito Mesa, South Valley, New Mexico
• Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico
• Shiprock, New Mexico

As students, we want to thank the following individuals and organizations for all of their support and guidance during the process of organizing this exchange.

• IFCO Pastors for Peace
• Native American Health Center (Martin Waukazoo)
• Office for Community Health, UNM Health Sciences Center (Dr. Art Kaufman & Dr. Julie Sierra)
• Center for Native American Health, UNM (Dr. Gayle Chacon)
• SWOP (Robby Rodriguez & Louise Head)
• Native Health Initiative (Dr. Anthony Fleg)
• Dr. Stephen Dahmer
• The Office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee

We extend a special thank you to all of our donors and supporters for making this exchange possible, and we want to encourage further support.  We are just short of meeting our proposed budget and we hope to make that happen to make this tour possible!  We need your support, please check out our link (http://www.medicc.org/ns/index.php?s=30&p=4) and donate now!

Visit our website www.saludswexchange.org for more information on the exchange!

sent in by Joanna Mae Souers
Escuela LatinoAmericana de Medicina
Carretera Panamericana
KM 3,5
Santa Fe, Playa
Ciudad de la Habana, CUBA
CP 19108