272981 Applications from Cuba: MEDICC's Community Partnerships for Health Equity: US ELAM students and Oakland's Faces for the Future

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 9:10 AM - 9:30 AM

Tomas Magana, MD, MA , Public Health Institute, Oakland, CA
The current and projected shortages in the healthcare workforce have serious implications for health outcomes. Numerous policy recommendations have indicated the importance of preparing a highly-skilled, culturally competent and culturally representative health workforce supply that can meet these shortages, facilitate improved access to primary care, and meet the expected increase in demand for services that health reform will bring. The development of a pipeline of future health workers, through innovative pipeline programs, is one solution to address these issues.

MEDICC's Community Partnerships for Health Equity (CPHE) program has facilitated important interaction and collaboration between US students enrolled in the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Cuba and health professionals based in Oakland, CA. Students enrolled at ELAM are reflective of the diversity needed in the healthcare workforce, and are trained with a solid emphasis on prevention and health promotion, and an understanding of how public health systems, population health and clinical medicine interrelate.

Experiences from the CPHE program have directly informed the planning and development of innovative collaborations between ELAM students, U.S. health professionals, and youth currently enrolled in a health pipeline program in Alameda County, namely the FACES for the Future program.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Explain how US medical students enrolled in ELAM help to meet the increasing demand for primary care and public health professionals in the US. Discuss the valuable contribution of the US ELAM students to Oakland’s Faces for the Futures program.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Workforce

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been the founder and director of youth health pipeline programs, which focus on training and preparation of ethnically and socioeconomically diverse at-risk youth for entry into college and healthcare professions. I have assisted in replicating these programs in communities throughout the state. Additionally, I serve on the Board of MEDICC, participated in the CPHE project, and worked with MEDICC staff to develop innovative projects that build upon lessons learned from that trip.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4011.0: The Right to Health in California: Lessons Learned from Cuba