Social Accountability in Medical Education: Cuba's Latin American Medical School

In an ambitious international medical training effort, Cubans have converted their naval academy into their 23rd medical school, the Latin American Medical School. This is a companion effort to international cooperative arrangements to bolster access to care by creating a cadre of physicians recruited from underserved populations who would then return to serve those populations. Established in 1999 with a capacity to handle a class of 2000 students, enrollment hit 10,000 in 2005 from 29 different countries and 101 ethnic groups, including 85 students from the United States. No tuition is charged, and the basic curriculum consists of a 6 months to a year premedical bridging course, two years of basic science and four years of clinical provided in all 14 Cuban provinces integrated with Cuban medical students.

Most students in U.S. medical schools are both white. Only 6 percent of doctors in the United States are black, Hispanic or Native American, according to a 2004 report by the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce. Less than 10% of students entering medical school in 2000 were from families earning less than $50,000 a year.

The author will describe the circumstances that prompted her to attend the school and her six-year curriculum in Cuba, with emphasis on Cuba's focus on community health, prevention, and primary-oriented primary care. She will pose the question of social accountability in medical schools in general, to address the growing issues of global health.