(Sorry, couldn't resist.)
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2134617,00.html>
Eight Americans graduate in boost for Cuban health care
· Students plan to use skills to treat poor people · Public relations coup for Castro government
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent Thursday July 26, 2007 The Guardian
Eight US medical students pose for a graduation picture at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba. Eight US medical students pose for a graduation picture at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, Cuba. Photograph: Javier Galeano/AP
Eight American students have graduated from a Cuban medical school after six years of free tuition, giving a fresh boost to the reputation of the communist government's health care system.
The first class of US graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine, a Fidel Castro brainchild on Havana's outskirts, plan to return home and take board exams for licenses to work as doctors in US hospitals.
The Americans were among more than 2,100 students from about 25 countries who received diplomas this week in a high-profile ceremony at Havana's Karl Marx theatre. The six women and two men, all from US ethnic minority backgrounds, said they would use their skills to treat poor people, in keeping with the humanitarian ethos of the school.
Article continues "Health care is not seen as a business in Cuba," Kenya Bingham, a 29-year-old Californian, told the Associated Press. "When you are sick they are not going to try to charge you or turn you away if you don't have insurance. We have studied medicine with a humanitarian approach."
[...]
The first class of US graduates, which started the course in 2001, has been followed by about 90 other Americans. A further 18 are due to enrol next month, making the Americans a small but high-profile minority among the more than 5,000-strong student body.
[...]
-- Andy