MEDICC & PAHO Team Up to Help Doctors
Trained at the Latin American Medical School

Havana, August 3, 2007 – For the third consecutive year, Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have teamed up to donate copies of the Merck Manual and PAHO’s Control of Communicable Diseases to graduates of the Latin American Medical School (ELAM) and the top Cuban graduates in medicine.

The books were distributed to the new physicians, celebrated in a small ceremony on July 23rd attended by Dr Juan Carrizo, Director of the Latin American Medical School, Dr Mario Pichardo, of PAHO/WHO, Conner Gorry, Managing Editor of MEDICC Review, plus diplomats, graduates, family, and friends from various countries with students at the ELAM. The entire class of 2007 – 1,561 graduates – received a set of books, plus the best 150 graduates from the Cuban class of 2007.

“It’s an honor to have PAHO’s support and to participate in the ELAM project in this way,” Conner Gorry said at the ceremony. “MEDICC is celebrating 10 years of collaboration with Cuba in medical education and programs like this one help fortify the bridges between the US, Cuban, and global health and medical communities.”

Over 9,000 of these essential reference books have been donated to Cuban-trained doctors as part of MEDICC’s Backpack Library program, launched in 2005 to coincide with the first ELAM graduation.  The program aims to provide ELAM-trained physicians – most of whom are from the Global South and commit to practicing in underserved areas and remote communities – additional tools they’ll need to make a difference in population health back home.

The Latin American Medical School provides full, six-year medical school scholarships to some 10,000 students from all over the world – the overwhelming majority from low-income families. This includes over 80 students from the United States currently being trained at the ELAM, in addition to the eight who received their medical degrees this past July 24th; this was the largest graduating class of Cuban-trained doctors from the US in ELAM history.

“I’m donating all of my textbofoks to the students coming behind me, but not the Merck Manual or Control of Communicable Diseases!” said Dr Teresa Thomas of New York who received her degree and books this past July. “Those are coming with me. Besides, I know they’ll get MEDICC’s Backpack Library too. It makes a big difference.”

For more information on this and other MEDICC programs, visit the organization’s program page.

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