"In nothing do men more nearly approach the gods than in giving health to men," this quote by Cicero perfectly describes what the Cuban medical system is attempting to create, a place in which doctors have a desire and drive to not only help people of wealth and stature but also to help those in vulnerable, poor, communities where payment may not be an option. The time in which doctors are compelled by greed and fiscal selfishness needs to end; Cuba is attempting to do this by instilling a new code of ethics to the doctors that graduate from Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).
Summary:
Robert Huish, a geographer with a PhD in Geography from Simon Fraser University, has undergone research into the methods of how ELAM is attempting to overturn the common ethics of the medical field. Huish is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Montreal and specializes in the geographies of equity in Latin America. More specifically, he studies intensively on health care services. Much of his current focus is on Cuba and its revolutionary medical school. His article, "Going where no doctor has gone before: The role of Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine in meeting the needs of some of the world's most vulnerable populations" focuses on how ELAM is attempting to instill a new code of ethics into its students. His research was conducted through interviews that occurred during 2005 and 2006 in Havana and Cienfuegos. Graduates of ELAM were contacted in various regions of Ecuador and administrators were interviewed during a delegation organized by the non-governmental organization, MEDICC (Huish). ELAM is a very unique organization in many aspects; it is a free education for medical students, it focuses on c...
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...hat the number of doctors being produced through ELAM is impressive, the most spectacular part is the development of an entirely new set of ethics that values success as a graduate’s ability to serve those in dire need. Although there are shortfalls, such as the fact that some other Latin American countries have resisted accepting ELAM graduates into their public health care system, overall, the goal of ELAM to create doctors with a new set of ethics has been a success. The emphasis that ELAM places on prevention over treatment is a badly needed change in teaching methods, claims Huish, because if these impoverished people are taught to take steps of prevention their lives could be greatly improved without the need to worry about constant or intensive medical care.
Works Cited
Cuba's attempt to redefine medical ethics: can ELAM be considered a success or failure?
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