Why some students are ditching America for medical school in Cuba
Why some students are ditching America for medical school in Cuba
Sarah Zhang • March 29, 2016
When Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye, who grew up in southern California and went to UCLA, heard she could go to medical school in Cuba, she thought it must be a joke. Not that it existed—she met Cuban doctors while studying abroad in Ghana, so she knew about the country’s robust healthcare system. What was unbelievable was the cost.
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Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye
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“I called the office asking how much the program cost, how much the application fee was. They were just like ‘Free, free,’” says Sefa-Boakye. “How can it be free?” But indeed, the Latin American Medical School—ELAM, in Spanish—is free, charging no tuition, room, or board. In 2002, she packed her bags for Havana.
Sefa-Boakye is one of over 100 Americans who have gone to the school. Cuba established it in 1999, after the country sent hundreds of doctors to help neighboring countries hit by hurricanes. The school is an extension of that medical diplomacy: ELAM caters specifically to low-income students from outside Cuba, who come learn for six years and return to serve their communities.
Does this sound like a way to spread Cuba’s ideology—you know, propaganda? Sure, maybe. But for some American students, the school’s draw is free tuition. Others come specifically because of Cuba’s ideas about healthcare, including its emphasis on community medicine. At a time of ballooning health costs, the U.S. might learn a thing or two about that.
More:
http://progresoweekly.us/students-ditching-america-medical-school-cuba/
Best wishes, Sarpoma Sefa-Boakye.
Images of the Latin American Medical School in Havana:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1756&bih=803&q=Latin+American+Medical+School+havana&oq=Latin+American+Medical+School+havana&gs_l=img.3...983.4610.0.4900.8.1.0.7.7.0.148.148.0j1.1.0....0...1ac.1.64.img..0.1.147.TrtnH71vX9Y
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