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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

C. William Keck, MD, MPH, Community Health Sciences, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, 4209 State Route 44, Rootstown, OH 44272, 330.325.6177, cwk@neoucom.edu

This panel presentation will describe Cuba's health system and how elements of its community-based, integrated system are being adapted to strengthen health systems in other developing countries, including the training of committed and competent human resources for health. Cuba has been cited by the Joint Learning Initiative and other recent reports as an important exception to the Global South's brain drain—with nearly 25,000 of its health professionals serving abroad in 68 countries today; and over 12,000 international students from low-income backgrounds studying on scholarship in Cuban medical schools, including 65 students from the USA. The Cuban approach to training includes a strong focus on integration of basic and clinical sciences using communities as learning sites. This philosophy has guided cooperative participation in the establishment of medical schools in other developing countries, such as Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, and Guyana. In Venezuela, some 18,000 medical students from underserved communities are enrolled in a medical school program sponsored by six Venezuelan universities. Panel members, including some graduates, will explore evidence of successes and challenges and will refer to methodologies in place to evaluate the trajectory of medical school graduates, their competencies, commitment and impact over time in their home countries, using government health indicators. Results are expected to include an important increase in the numbers of physicians in the Global South dedicating their practice to accessible public health services, as well as the application of curricular models relevant to the needs of developing countries, as measured by eventual health outcomes.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be ble to

• Recognize primary elements of the Cuban health care system which are being adapted in other developing countries
• Describe outcomes in health care and human capacity building in the developing countries in which Cuba is collaborating.

Keywords: International Health,

Related Web page: www.medicc.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation