“For once, if you are poor, female, or from an indigenous population,
you have a distinct advantage.”
~WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, visiting ELAM
Since its first class of 2005, the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) has graduated tens of thousands of physicians from low-income communities in Africa, Asia and the Americas, including the USA. Thousands more are enrolled in the program, thanks to the full scholarships offered by Cuba. These new young doctors make a commitment to work in underserved areas upon graduation.
Young people from over 100 ethnic groups, half of whom are women, study in an environment that recognizes the right of every patient to care, and that centers learning in the community, where health promotion is as important as disease management.
MEDICC supports ELAM, its students and graduates, in three areas:
- In the USA, MEDICC has organized the MD Pipeline to Community Service that includes mentorship, summer clinical placements, financial support for the US licensing exam and associated preparation, and postgraduate guidance to streamline planning for residency programs.
- MEDICC supports projects led by other international ELAM graduates: the first indigenous hospital in Ciriboya, Honduras (Garifuna ELAM graduates, Ciriboya, Honduras); groundbreaking research into a new form of chronic kidney disease targeting poor farmers in Central America (launched by an ELAM graduate, with support from El Salvador’s Ministry of Health, Cuba’s Ministry of Health and PAHO); and clinical coverage of the poorest of the poor during health emergencies and beyond (led by various Haitian ELAM graduates).
- With academics from the USA, Cuba and other countries, MEDICC and partner organizations are now launching the first outcomes studies, to learn lessons from ELAM and its graduates about their recruitment, training, employment and health workforce impact.