Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Latin American School of Medicine (LASM) as a tool of regional integration
By Ramón Santiago
May 28, 2008, 22:38
The original Latin American School of Medicine (LASM) is located in Havana, Cuba and is one of the major initiatives in the Latin American and Caribbean to integrate developing countries in this hemisphere.
Established in 1999 and operated by the Cuban government, LASM has been described as possibly being the largest medical school in the world by enrollment with approx. 10,000 or 12,000 students from 27 or 29 countries reported as enrolled in 2006/early 2007.
All those enrolled are international students from outside Cuba and mainly come from Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Africa. The school also accepts students from the United States - 91 were reportedly enrolled as of January 2007. Tuition, accommodation and board are free, and a small stipend is provided for students.
LASM's mission is dedicated to the training of general practitioners and primary healthcare providers for impoverished communities outside Cuba. The school is part of the international outreach through medical initiatives - which has previously included medical scholarships - that has been important to Cuban foreign policy since the 1960s.
Preference is given to LASM students who come from the poorest communities with the intention of returning to practice in those areas in their countries. Initially only enrolling students from Latin America and the Caribbean, the school has also become open to applicants from impoverished and/or medically underserved areas in the United States and Africa.
Applicants who are financially needy and/or "people of color" and who show the most commitment to working in their poor communities are also favored.
A LASM sister school is operated by the Venezuela government and sited in Filas de Mariche near Petare, Miranda State, in eastern Caracas. The school is named Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina A.P. Réverénd after French physician Alejandro Próspero Réverénd.
On May 22nd 2008 the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, welcomed 445 young people from Panama, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru, Paraguay, Mexico , Bolivia, Saint Vincent, the Grenadines and Gambia, who will initiate pre-medical studies in this seat of higher education.
Upon his arrival at the school President Chávez was greeted by a delegation of young people participating in this social program, who, dressed in typical clothes from their country of origin, performed folk dances from their respective countries. President Chavez welcomed the 445 young people who are now part of the intake and whose aim is to eventually train 200 thousand communal physicians from Latin America and the Caribbean within 10 years.
Now integrated into the training system from abroad are 208 young people coming from Bolivia, 13 from Chile, 22 from Ecuador, 12 from El Salvador, 13 from Mexico, 74 from Nicaragua, 12 from Paraguay, 11 from Peru, two from St. Vincent and Grenadines , 14 from Panama and 64 from Gambia.
Humanitarian Training Program
The creation of the Latin American School of Medicine in Venezuela comes from the Sandino Committment, a political cooperation agreement signed between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Republic of Cuba, in the town of Sandino, Cuba, in August 2005.
This initiative reflects the need to train communal physicians with a high scientific, ethical and humanist preparation, of a deep social vocation to act so as to facilitate social change on the continent.
The LASM is an integral part of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Latin America (ALBA) which seeks cooperation, integration and complementary economic ties between sovereign states. The human being is at the center of the world as the main driving force in ALBA, in contrast to the Free Trade Agreements espoused by the US which places capitalist competition, economic exploitation and unseemly profits as the major goal.
Additional reading on LASM
© Copyright 2008 by AxisofLogic.com
This material is available for republication as long as reprints include verbatim copy of the article its entirety, respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the author and Axis of Logic as the original source including a "live link" to the article. Thank you!
Articles by Ramón Santiago
|