How SA-Cuban doctor training transforms poor bright sparks into success stories
More than 20 years ago, Desmond Kegakilwe left Tlakgameng village in rural North West to study medicine in Cuba. Back then there were few local doctors serving his community and little hope for young people from underprivileged backgrounds who aspired to a medical career. Today he is the acting clinical manager at Ganyesa District Hospital near Vryburg, and five of the eight doctors employed at the rural facility are Cuban-trained South Africans. "Obviously it was not an easy route, but rural areas now have permanent South African doctors who can speak the language of their patients. Some of us would never have had the opportunity to study medicine in SA," Kegakilwe says. SA began sending aspirant doctors to train in Cuba in 1997 under a deal that also saw Cuba send its doctors to work in SA’s rural areas. The South Africans joined students from all over the world taking advantage of the many medical schools created under Fidel Castro’s watch to provide personnel for his country’s f...
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