275013 Applications from Cuba: A Public Health System’s Focus on Workforce Diversity and Management of Complex Patients

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Wright Lassiter III, BS, MHA , Alameda County Medical Center (ACMC), Oakland, CA
The 2004 Sullivan Report, Missing Persons: Minorities in the Health Professions, 2004 and the Institute of Medicine's landmark study, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, both recommended increasing the number of ethnic minority health professionals as a key strategy to eliminating healthcare disparities. Yet, as of 2010, these groups represent less than 13% of the health care workforce (AAMC, Diversity in the Physician Workforce: Facts & Figures 2010). Since 2001 Cuba has provided full scholarships for student from around the world to study medicine at the Latin American Medical School (ELAM). The US students at ELAM represent much more diverse populations (both ethnically and socio-demographically) than what is traditionally seen in US medical schools. Through Alameda County Medical Center's (ACMC) participation in MEDICC's Community Partnerships for Health Equity, several physicians and the CEO of our health system have traveled to Cuba to observe the education process, and the unique delivery of primary and hospital care on the island nation. As a result of these interactions, ACMC has developed a new 4-week summer clinical clerkship program and has relied upon the Cuban primary care model to develop a new Complex Care Center to provide more targeted ambulatory care to the most complex patients.

Learning Objectives:
1. Define the framework for the summer clinical clerkship program for ELAM medical students. 2. Describe the framework for the development of the Complex Care Center will be opening soon on the Highland Hospital Campus of Alameda County Medical Center.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Workforce

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Since 2005, I have been the CEO of the Alameda County Medical Center and have worked in hospital administration for over 17 years. I work with the Board of Trustees to define and fulfill the Medical Center's vision of superior clinical results, strong patient loyalty, positive financial performance, and being a leading Bay Area employer of health care professionals.
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