HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 1 (acn) Venezuelan doctor, Yesy Mendoza Alameda, who graduated in 2007 from the Latin American Medical School in Havana (ELAM), praised the ethical and professional educational training Cuba offers and she thanked Fidel Castro for the opportunity. 
 
Dr. Mendoza spoke to ACN as one of the ELAM graduates involved in a program called Battalion 51 that seeks to turn treating medicine into preventative medicine, into socialist medicine, she explained.

She said the ELAM graduates are eternally grateful to Fidel Castro, emphasizing that the historical Cuban leader is an example of life, education and the struggle for them.

“For me, he (Fidel Castro) is the most intelligent, humane and capable person in history,” Dr. Mendoza, from Barquisimeto, Lara State, told this agency.

The young Venezuelan woman, who is specializing on Comprehensive General Medicine, is one of more than 500 delegates from nearly 30 countries attending the first International Meeting of ELAM Graduates. The conference will run until Tuesday November 4 in Havana.

Since its creation a decade ago, more than 6,000 students from around 30 nations have concluded their studies in ELAM in all four graduations; of them nearly 300 are from Venezuela.

Battalion 51 includes some 500 doctors from different countries who work alongside Cuban professors in rural and remote areas in Venezuela with the support of the Bolivarian Government. They work closely with the community on prevention and treatment programs and also to help in the development of social transformations that include water and housing programs.

During the meeting, an association called ELAM Observatory will be created to bring together all ELAM graduates. The organization will help develop bonds with medical and scientific institutions and strengthen links of solidarity and friendship.

http://www.cubanews.ain.cu/2008/1103doctoravenez.htm