Post by dangeresque on Jul 25, 2007 22:58:54 GMT
HAVANA (AP) — Eight Americans who graduated from a Cuban medical school say they
will put the education paid for by Fidel Castro's communist government to use in
hospitals back home.
Four New Yorkers, three Californians and a Minnesotan, all from minority
backgrounds, have studied in Havana since April 2001, forming the first class of
American graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine.
One other American previously graduated from the school after transferring from a
U.S. university, but the six women and two men graduating Tuesday were the first
Americans to complete the entire six-year program since Castro offered the free
medical training to U.S. students. The offer followed a meeting a delegation from
the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus.
The students said that much of what they learned in Cuba matched the curriculum at
American medical schools, but that instructors here placed a special emphasis on
preventative care.
"I will be heading back to the United States with a great advantage over the
American students who have stayed there," said Wing Wu, from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"I've learned that medicine is not a business, it's social, it's humane," said
Toussaint Reynolds, a graduate from Massapequa, New York. "I will be a better doctor
in the United States for it."
The 80-year-old Castro has not been seen in public since last July 31, when he
announced that emergency intestinal surgery was forcing him to step down in favor of
his younger brother Raul, the 76-year-old defense minister.
Vice President Carlos Lage and other top Cuban leaders attended a graduation
ceremony Tuesday evening at Havana's Karl Marx theater.
Wearing white robes, the Americans were among more than 2,100 students from about 25
countries who received diplomas. More than 10,000 students now attend the Latin
American School, which opened in 1999 to provide free medical training to foreign
students from disadvantaged families.
Washington's 45-year-old embargo prohibits most Americans from traveling to Cuba and
chokes off nearly all trade between the countries. But the U.S. State Department has
not opposed the medical school program, saying American policy hopes to encourage
contact between ordinary Cubans and Americans.
U.S. authorities have suggested that it is unclear whether Americans who receive
Cuban medical training can meet licensing requirements in the United States. The
graduates will have to pass two exams to apply for residency at American hospitals,
then eventually pass a third.
But the U.S. transfer student who graduated from the Cuban school recently began his
residency at a New York City hospital. His experience gave hope to Tuesday's
graduating class.
"Do I think there will be prejudices against us when we go back to the States and
are looking for residences? Yes, it's inevitable," said Kenya Bingham, from Alameda,
Calif. "I think there will be just due to the simple fact that there are political
differences between the two countries."
The students held a news conference with the Rev. Lucius Walker, leader of the U.S.
non-profit Pastors for Peace. He has worked closely with the graduates. He said
about 100 other Americans are currently enrolled at the Latin American School, and
another 18 are starting next month.
Michael Moore's hit documentary Sicko praised Cuba's universal health care system,
featuring scenes where the filmmaker brought ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to the
island for treatment.
Graduate Carmen Landau, 30, of Oakland, noted in an e-mail that chronic shortages of
medicine and equipment in Cuba — much of it caused by the embargo — make health care
here far more complicated than Moore's documentary suggested.
"This is a highly flawed system," Landau wrote. "After six years here I could go on
and on regarding things that I think should be different."
But she also praised Sicko, saying "it may be what we need to reform a system that
is broken in the United States."
Source: www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-07-25-cuba_N.htm
will put the education paid for by Fidel Castro's communist government to use in
hospitals back home.
Four New Yorkers, three Californians and a Minnesotan, all from minority
backgrounds, have studied in Havana since April 2001, forming the first class of
American graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine.
One other American previously graduated from the school after transferring from a
U.S. university, but the six women and two men graduating Tuesday were the first
Americans to complete the entire six-year program since Castro offered the free
medical training to U.S. students. The offer followed a meeting a delegation from
the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus.
The students said that much of what they learned in Cuba matched the curriculum at
American medical schools, but that instructors here placed a special emphasis on
preventative care.
"I will be heading back to the United States with a great advantage over the
American students who have stayed there," said Wing Wu, from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"I've learned that medicine is not a business, it's social, it's humane," said
Toussaint Reynolds, a graduate from Massapequa, New York. "I will be a better doctor
in the United States for it."
The 80-year-old Castro has not been seen in public since last July 31, when he
announced that emergency intestinal surgery was forcing him to step down in favor of
his younger brother Raul, the 76-year-old defense minister.
Vice President Carlos Lage and other top Cuban leaders attended a graduation
ceremony Tuesday evening at Havana's Karl Marx theater.
Wearing white robes, the Americans were among more than 2,100 students from about 25
countries who received diplomas. More than 10,000 students now attend the Latin
American School, which opened in 1999 to provide free medical training to foreign
students from disadvantaged families.
Washington's 45-year-old embargo prohibits most Americans from traveling to Cuba and
chokes off nearly all trade between the countries. But the U.S. State Department has
not opposed the medical school program, saying American policy hopes to encourage
contact between ordinary Cubans and Americans.
U.S. authorities have suggested that it is unclear whether Americans who receive
Cuban medical training can meet licensing requirements in the United States. The
graduates will have to pass two exams to apply for residency at American hospitals,
then eventually pass a third.
But the U.S. transfer student who graduated from the Cuban school recently began his
residency at a New York City hospital. His experience gave hope to Tuesday's
graduating class.
"Do I think there will be prejudices against us when we go back to the States and
are looking for residences? Yes, it's inevitable," said Kenya Bingham, from Alameda,
Calif. "I think there will be just due to the simple fact that there are political
differences between the two countries."
The students held a news conference with the Rev. Lucius Walker, leader of the U.S.
non-profit Pastors for Peace. He has worked closely with the graduates. He said
about 100 other Americans are currently enrolled at the Latin American School, and
another 18 are starting next month.
Michael Moore's hit documentary Sicko praised Cuba's universal health care system,
featuring scenes where the filmmaker brought ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to the
island for treatment.
Graduate Carmen Landau, 30, of Oakland, noted in an e-mail that chronic shortages of
medicine and equipment in Cuba — much of it caused by the embargo — make health care
here far more complicated than Moore's documentary suggested.
"This is a highly flawed system," Landau wrote. "After six years here I could go on
and on regarding things that I think should be different."
But she also praised Sicko, saying "it may be what we need to reform a system that
is broken in the United States."
Source: www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-07-25-cuba_N.htm