Blacks in U.S. flock to Cuba for free medical school

Jet, Feb 10, 2003

For dozens of Blacks with big dreams of becoming doctors and small hopes of financing medical school, it was an offer they couldn't refuse--medical education, room and board, textbooks--all for free! The only catch: they would have to study for six years at the Latin American School of Medical Sciences, which happens to be in Cuba.

That is the generous offer which Cuban President Fidel Castro has made to young Americans. His government, which provides its citizens with free education and health-care, is willing to give 500 medical scholarships annually so that U.S. high-school graduates under the age of 26 from low-income families can study medicine on the island nation just south of Florida, then return to American shores after graduation to work in disadvantaged communities.

Today, nearly 60 Americans, many of them Blacks and Hispanics from across the nation, are living and learning at no cost at a converted naval academy on the outskirts of Havana, thanks to Castro's generous offer--albeit without many of the luxuries of an American university. Their dorm rooms lack hot water, air conditioning or toilet seats; they share a telephone, wear uniforms to class and cannot leave the campus during the week.

And the daily menu--namely bread, beans, rice, milk and pork--while filling, is a far cry from the pizza, pop, burgers and chips that are late-night mainstays for many American college students. Despite the culture shock, between 150 and 175 students have applied to the program, the result of efforts by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

In 2000, a CBC delegation visited Cuba to explore the prospect of relaxing U.S. sanctions against the communist country, which has been off-limits to most Americans since the 1959 revolution, when Castro seized power. During a meeting with the Cuban leader, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) lamented on the high infant mortality rate in his Mississippi Delta congressional district. Castro responded with the offer of free medical training.

"It would be hard for your government to oppose such a program," said Castro, who has given scholarships to tens of thousands of students from the Caribbean and Latin America. "It would be a trial for them. Morally, how could they refuse?"

In 2001 the CBC, with the State Department's blessing, moved ahead with the "cultural exchange" program, which provides two years of basic science and four years of clinical and university instruction. Students also take Spanish language classes since courses are taught in Spanish. And for American students, school officials plan to bring in U.S. experts to prepare them for the rigorous U.S. board exams they must take before they can practice medicine in the States.