Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Havana, Nov. 15. - Twenty-five years ago today, the Latin American School of Medicine united the world through one of the most noble and supportive projects of the Cuban Revolution: training comprehensive doctors to save lives.
The history of this institution treasures the example of each graduate of this work of love, founded by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on November 15, 1999, and of each current student who contributes from empathy, gratitude and respect to the struggle of the Cuban people.
Yoanka Muro del Valle, rector of ELAM,( Latin American School of Medicine, by its acronym in Spanish) recalled November 21, 1998, when the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution announced at the Science and Technology Forum the creation of this educational center and offered the first 500 scholarships for Nicaragua.
She highlighted to ACN the work of Dr. Juan Dalisio Estévez, founder, who together with a team led the transformation of a naval academy into a medical school, prepared the teaching staff and already in February 1999 received the first group of 327 young Nicaraguans and in June 1,929 students from 18 countries were enrolled.
Every detail was decisive, medical attention, psychological support, food, transportation, management of collective and multicultural coexistence and the essential respect for differences, she added.
On November 15, 1999, ELAM was inaugurated, a symbol of Cuba's solidarity, which unites and integrates the peoples of Latin America and the world, graduating more than 31,000 doctors from 123 countries and some 9,500 in 44 medical specialties to date.
Muro del Valle said that the idea was transferred to the country's medical universities to continue the clinical area, so that every year the country's centers are filled with young people from various parts of the world.
At the first ELAM graduation, on August 20, 2005, Fidel Castro said that it was a prow of the capacity of human beings to reach the highest goals and a prize for those who believe that a better world is within reach.
Dr. Luther Charry, Minister of Science, Technology and Scientific Innovation of Honduras and graduate of the medical institution, said that ELAM constitutes a bastion of unity and international cooperation, promoted by Cuba, where quality medical teaching prevails thanks to its more than 200 professors.
From this site emerge doctors who today save lives, the same from the work of a medical post, in rural areas, in large hospitals, they occupy management positions in their countries, many have been ministers, and they promote universal access to health care for all, he said.
ELAM has 20 graduations in its history, each graduate is a standard bearer of health and true guardians of life.
Currently, some 1,800 students are studying Medicine at its facilities, a center accredited by the International Board of Universities of America and the Caribbean. (ACN) (Photo: Archive)
