The event brought together representatives of 20 graduations to discuss issues such as primary healthcare, emergencies, natural disasters, and pedagogy in higher medical education.

The First International Congress of Graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) concludes today, marking the 25th anniversary of the institution, which was founded on the same date in 1999.
 
The event, which began on the 13th at the Havana Convention Palace, brought together representatives of 20 graduations to discuss issues such as primary healthcare, emergencies, natural disasters, and pedagogy in higher medical education.
 
There were various panels, roundtables, research presentations, posters, and other forms of disseminating scientific and technological innovations, which addressed topics such as nuclear sciences and nanotechnologies; as well as the advancements in health systems in Latin American countries, where the ministers of the health portfolio are today graduates of ELAM.
 
During the Congress, the Second International Alumni Assembly (SMI-ELAM) was also held, where the delegates discussed postgraduate education, challenges, and experiences in medical sciences.
 
The keynote lecture of the event was given by Dr. José Ángel Portal Miranda, the Minister of Public Health of Cuba, who discussed the particularities of the island's healthcare system and recognized the historical milestone of having ELAM for the training of healthcare professionals from around the world.
 
In this context, he recalled that solidarity is a maxim of the Cuban people and state, proven over several decades through the medical collaboration of the largest island in the Caribbean, which began in 1963 in Algeria, and to date, some 65,000 healthcare workers have served in 165 nations.
 
For her part, the rector of the institution, Yoandra Muro, stated that the Latin American School of Medicine was the result of an idea of the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, 25 years ago.
 
"In this quarter of a century of intense work, our ELAM has had 20 graduations, nine thousand five hundred doctors have completed their specialties here, and representatives of more than 400 ethnic groups," she stressed.
 
Currently, approximately 1,800 students are studying medicine at the facilities of ELAM, which has been accredited by the International Board of Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean.