Cuba Offers Free Medical School To Blacks And Latinos

If your children had an opportunity to get a free medical school education, would you allow them to go? Of course you would. However, what if the school was in Cuba?

Did your decision change? Well, maybe it is time to consider such a thing because Cuba is open its doors to black and Latino Americans in under served communities according to Black By Unity and their report.

http://urbanintellectuals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Cuba-Free-Medical-School.jpg" rel="nofollow"> Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine (LASM). A few years ago member of the USA Congressional Black Caucus visited Cuba and noted the small amount number of doctor available in Black and poor areas in American. When Rep. Bennie Thompson said his Mississippi district needed doctors, then President Fidel Castro announced scholarships for youth from under-served communities in the U.S.

Mad props to the Congressional Black Caucus for seeking a solution to address the issues in our community with the lack of doctors, professionals and exorbitant medical school cost. I, for one, am pretty tough on these so call black leadership bodies as they don’t seem to be doing enough to try and advance the human condition of black Americans, but this is an interesting step considering the political nature and US stance on Cuba and Castro.

People interested in this opportunity should look into contacting the Interrelations Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO)/Pastors for Peace organization. There are currently 146 US students in the program at LASM with full scholarships and they seem to be doing very well.
47 students have graduated the program and two are resentdents in USA hospitals currently.

This is proof the programs credentials are being accepted and honored in USA

hospitals, which is a critical step.

Who knows what the future will hold from this program, but if you have the political believe that education should be for all and the monitary understanding that US medical schools are pricing many people out of the industry, then Cuba may be an option for you to consider.

418 W 145 Street

Harlem, NY 10031 
www.ifconews.org 
ifco@igc.org 
  (212) 926-5757

http://ifconews.org/node/352" rel="nofollow - http://ifconews.org/node/352

Source:  http://blackleftunity.blogspot.com/2013/08/cubas-free-medical-school-offer-for-us.html" rel="nofollow - http://blackleftunity.blogspot.com/2013/08/cubas-free-medical-school-offer-for-us.html

This is proof the programs credentials are being accepted and honored in USA

hospitals, which is a critical step.

Two students accepted is not proof that the program is credentialed/accepted by US standards.  It just means they were able to pass their boards.  And residents is spelled wrong, too...

Is the Latin American School of Medicine accredited?

The Latin American School of Medicine is fully accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is the recognized body which confers accreditation on all international schools of medicine.  In the United States, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) oversees licensing requirements for medical students who study in schools outside the US.  The ECFMG fully recognizes any medical school which is certified by its own government’s Ministry of Health. Therefore students who study at the Latin American Medical School are considered by the ECFMG to have received a fully accredited medical education. The Latin American School of Medicine has also been evaluated and fully accredited by the Medical Board of California, which has the most stringent standards of any state in the US. This means that graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine are recognized as fully qualified to apply for medical residency in any state of the US.      

Will I be able to practice medicine when I return to the US?

In order to practice medicine in the US, students at the Latin American School of Medicine need to pass a series of US Medical Licensing Exams (USMLEs). These are the same requirements that apply to any US student who studies in any medical school, whether in the US or in another country. The Step 1 exam is a computer-based multiple-choice exam which focuses on the basic medical sciences. The Step 2CK exam focuses on clinical knowledge.  The Step 2CS exam tests clinical skills: the student actually interacts with model patients in a simulated clinical setting. These Steps can be taken in any order after the second year of medical school, with the written agreement of the dean of the medical school.  Students at the Latin American School of Medicine begin their studies for the USMLEs starting with their first-year courses, and begin to sit for the exams after the third year of study. In addition, each student must complete a residency program in the United States, and must take the Step 3 exam during the residency program.

Careful consideration has been given to the particular needs of US students as they prepare for these essential examinations. Faculty and administrators at the Latin American School of Medicine have analyzed the US Step exams to be sure that all anticipated items are covered in detail in their course offerings. Some slight adjustments have been made in the standard Cuban course sequence to accommodate the special needs of US students (for example, offering Pharmacology in an earlier semester so students can prepare for the Step 1 exam).  

In addition, US physicians who are members of IFCO’s Medical School Advisory Committee offer supplementary short courses to the US students, in several subject areas which are included in the Step 1, Step 2CK, and Step 2CS exams, but which are taught from a different perspective in the Cuban curriculum — courses such as Medical Ethics, Legal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Nutrition.

Supplemental study groups are also established for all US students to help prepare then for the Step 1 exam.  These study groups are considered mandatory — even though they are not a formal part of the Cuban curriculum — since all US students will need to be sufficiently prepared to pass the USMLE exams or else they will not be allowed to practice in the US.  Resources such as the “First Aid” study guides, sample tests, etc., are being made available to the US students. All students who study medicine in foreign medical schools and wish to practice medicine in the United States also need to complete a medical residency in the US.  Residency placement in the various areas of specialization is a highly competitive process which is based in large part on students’ scores on the USMLE examinations.