September 30, 2016
The University of Alabama’s Cuba Center will host its 2016 Cuba Week Monday, Oct. 24, through Friday, Oct. 28, and Cuban guests have been invited to visit UA and present with faculty from across campus throughout the week. The College of Community Health Sciences is participating in the week by hosting two physicians—Dr. José de Jesús Portilla García and Dr. Nancy de la C. Milián Melero. The CCHS presentations as part of UA Cuba Week will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at the Bryant-Jordan Performing Arts Center on the UA campus. Portilla will present “Achievements of the Cuban National Healthcare System: The 1950s to the Present,” and Milián will present “Training Doctors for Cuba and the World.” Together, they will present “The Mother and Child Care Program in Cuba.” Some CCHS faculty, including Dr. Richard Streiffer, dean of the College, have spent time in Cuba learning about its healthcare system and approach to medical education. Streiffer says there is much the US can learn from Cuban medicine. “Politics aside, most agree that in the 50 years since the Cuban Revolution, Cubans have systematically built a rational, if not relatively resource frugal healthcare system,” Streiffer says. “It is grounded in holistic primary care with a family doctor and nurse-run consultorios (clinics) located in every neighborhood across the country. Every physician becomes a family doctor first; some then go on to specialize.” Portilla and Milian will also meet with CCHS faculty, medical students and residents to discuss their country’s approach to health care and medical education. Some of the topics of conversation and discussion will include maternity care, geriatric care and what it is like to be a patient in Cuba. The College will also facilitate a trip to a rural community so that Cubans can understand some of the issues facing the state, such as a shortage of health care resources and primary care physicians. For more information about UA’s Cuba Week, visit cuba.ua.edu.
