Last night, William and I went to the !Salud! event in the HUC. There was free food before the show (including delicious popcorn) which helped bring in a bigger crowd, but was nowhere near as large as the crowd at the Anatomy of Hate event. The !Salud! movie was about Cuban health care, and the impact that the Cuban doctors have made in Africa.
The Cuban health care system is much different than the US health care system in that the the Cuban health care system deals with everyone on the island, and the doctors know you more on a personal level. One quote that stuck out to me was "when you start viewing patients as money rather than as human beings, you have lost sight in what it means to be a doctor". I starting thinking after hearing this quote, that this is why people become doctors, until they start realizing the monetary value. The Cubans are now accepting study away students from all countries to take part in their medical school program for free. The crazy part about this situation however is not the free tuition, but rather the mindset that the Cuban government has for the students after they graduate. They want the students to go back to their home country in order to fix their own problems, and help their own people.
I applaud the Cubans for their Humanitarian effort, and will be following any stories dealing with the Cuban medical program.
