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> Cuba also regularly sends doctors to help with medical emergencies and to support developing countries From what I heard, they are decades behind. Keep in m

> Cuba also regularly sends doctors to help with medical emergencies and to support developing countries From what I heard, they are decades behind. Keep in mind that it's harder to become a taxi driver than a "doctor" in Cuba.

eesmith 5y ago
Most medical problems don't need cutting edge treatment. Compared to the US, Cuba's medical system is much more weighted towards primary care and universal health care. Med school in Cuba is 6 years of study. I can't find where it's harder to become a taxi driver. Can you clarify? The most difficult taxi license I know is the black cab license for London, which takes some people years to acquire "The Knowledge." Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_of_the_United_Kingdom#The_Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_of_the_United_Kingdom#Th... ] It is the world's most demanding training course for taxicab drivers, and applicants will usually need to pass at least twelve "appearances" (periodical one-on-one oral examinations undertaken throughout the qualification process), with the whole process averaging 34 months to pass. 3 years < 6 years, and I find it hard to believe that Cuba's taxi license acquisition process is more arduous than London's black cab one.
- pkaye 5y ago
  I don't if the Cuban taxi license acquisition process is hard but I've heard they can make much more money catering to the tourists than a working as a doctor there.
  - eesmith 5y ago
    Yes. And there's likely all sort of interesting comparisons there, like how taxi services in Cuba make their money from foreign tourists, the relative comparison of "medical deserts" in the two countries, the type of people willing to go deeply into debt for a US MD, vs. a state-funded MD in Cuba, and the types of medicine they go into (eg, primary care vs. specialist care; urban or rich vs. rural or poor patients). I tried searching Google Scholar, but the topic is vast and my time little. I thought https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-020-0450-9 https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10... ("Medical training for universal health coverage: a review of Cuba–South Africa collaboration") was an interesting read: > Doctors play an essential leadership role in achieving UHC, but in most countries, their training is orientated towards curative, high technology sub-specialisation in medicine and surgery. The financial and academic barriers to admission to medical school tend to favour the selection of students from privileged backgrounds, leading to young doctors who have limited direct experience of the health needs of poor rural and under-served urban communities, with few choosing to serve these communities ... > RSA’s long heritage of British medical education traditions and academic excellence, selection of the brightest students and its strong emphasis on specialisation have not helped in developing primary health care. .. > Cuba adopted an entirely different approach to medical education with the emphasis on primary health care, an interdisciplinary approach, a strong community participation, an internationalist focus, and a health workforce of sufficient size and skills to meet population needs. Much of the training is in rural polyclinics as part of a primary care team, giving students a community and primary care orientation for a large part of their training. Moreover, their values are different: solidarity with poor and disadvantaged communities, and a willingness to serve in a variety of challenging settings [17]. Importantly, Cuba has achieved impressive improvements in population health, aided by these innovations [18].
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  > Med school in Cuba is 6 years of study. I can't find where it's harder to become a taxi driver. Can you clarify > 3 years < 6 years, and I find it hard to believe that Cuba's taxi license acquisition process is more arduous than London's black cab one. It's not the years of schools. It's just getting the capital to start, and bribing the right people to be able to do it. It's one of the only job that gives a cuban access to real currency. [0]. That's why it's more competitive than medicine. Doctors have the perks of sometimes being "loaned" to foreign countries (usually developing or other communist states) allowing these cubans to get exit visa (otherwise impossible to get). There they can work under the table to try to bring back real currencies to their families, or if they don't have any, try to escape and claim asylum. [0] https://youtu.be/n-mUZRP-fpo https://youtu.be/n-mUZRP-fpo
  - eesmith 5y ago
    How do you quantify "harder" to make that comparison? A NYC taxi medallion in 2010 cost around $600,000. Does that mean it was harder to be a NYC cab driver in 2010 than to get an MD at Mount Sinai? I'm perfectly fine if your answer is "yes" - it just means that "harder" doesn't mean something like "years of hard study". Being Queen of England was clearly one of the hardest jobs in the 20th century as there was only one. And she used family connections to get it.
    - 908B64B197 5y ago
      > A NYC taxi medallion in 2010 cost around $600,000. Does that mean it was harder to be a NYC cab driver in 2010 than to get an MD at Mount Sinai? No. Taxi medallion in NYC is an open market. You can just pick up a license if you have the means to buy it and operate legally. It is not the case in Cuba. Good luck going into the business and keeping the "right" to operate there. Meanwhile medical school is just an application you need to fill for those who couldn't get a job as a taxi driver or in a tourist resort. > I'm perfectly fine if your answer is "yes" - it just means that "harder" doesn't mean something like "years of hard study". I'm not going to comment on the "hard" part but perhaps working smarter and not harder would be better for them. Seems medical degrees from Cuba are recognized almost nowhere in the world. That speaks for the quality.

eesmith 5y ago

Most medical problems don't need cutting edge treatment. Compared to the US, Cuba's medical system is much more weighted towards primary care and universal health care. Med school in Cuba is 6 years of study. I can't find where it's harder to become a taxi driver. Can you clarify? The most difficult taxi license I know is the black cab license for London, which takes some people years to acquire "The Knowledge." Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_of_the_United_Kingdom#The_Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxis_of_the_United_Kingdom#Th... ] It is the world's most demanding training course for taxicab drivers, and applicants will usually need to pass at least twelve "appearances" (periodical one-on-one oral examinations undertaken throughout the qualification process), with the whole process averaging 34 months to pass. 3 years < 6 years, and I find it hard to believe that Cuba's taxi license acquisition process is more arduous than London's black cab one.

pkaye 5y ago
I don't if the Cuban taxi license acquisition process is hard but I've heard they can make much more money catering to the tourists than a working as a doctor there.
- eesmith 5y ago
  Yes. And there's likely all sort of interesting comparisons there, like how taxi services in Cuba make their money from foreign tourists, the relative comparison of "medical deserts" in the two countries, the type of people willing to go deeply into debt for a US MD, vs. a state-funded MD in Cuba, and the types of medicine they go into (eg, primary care vs. specialist care; urban or rich vs. rural or poor patients). I tried searching Google Scholar, but the topic is vast and my time little. I thought https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-020-0450-9 https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10... ("Medical training for universal health coverage: a review of Cuba–South Africa collaboration") was an interesting read: > Doctors play an essential leadership role in achieving UHC, but in most countries, their training is orientated towards curative, high technology sub-specialisation in medicine and surgery. The financial and academic barriers to admission to medical school tend to favour the selection of students from privileged backgrounds, leading to young doctors who have limited direct experience of the health needs of poor rural and under-served urban communities, with few choosing to serve these communities ... > RSA’s long heritage of British medical education traditions and academic excellence, selection of the brightest students and its strong emphasis on specialisation have not helped in developing primary health care. .. > Cuba adopted an entirely different approach to medical education with the emphasis on primary health care, an interdisciplinary approach, a strong community participation, an internationalist focus, and a health workforce of sufficient size and skills to meet population needs. Much of the training is in rural polyclinics as part of a primary care team, giving students a community and primary care orientation for a large part of their training. Moreover, their values are different: solidarity with poor and disadvantaged communities, and a willingness to serve in a variety of challenging settings [17]. Importantly, Cuba has achieved impressive improvements in population health, aided by these innovations [18].
908B64B197 5y ago
> Med school in Cuba is 6 years of study. I can't find where it's harder to become a taxi driver. Can you clarify > 3 years < 6 years, and I find it hard to believe that Cuba's taxi license acquisition process is more arduous than London's black cab one. It's not the years of schools. It's just getting the capital to start, and bribing the right people to be able to do it. It's one of the only job that gives a cuban access to real currency. [0]. That's why it's more competitive than medicine. Doctors have the perks of sometimes being "loaned" to foreign countries (usually developing or other communist states) allowing these cubans to get exit visa (otherwise impossible to get). There they can work under the table to try to bring back real currencies to their families, or if they don't have any, try to escape and claim asylum. [0] https://youtu.be/n-mUZRP-fpo https://youtu.be/n-mUZRP-fpo
- eesmith 5y ago
  How do you quantify "harder" to make that comparison? A NYC taxi medallion in 2010 cost around $600,000. Does that mean it was harder to be a NYC cab driver in 2010 than to get an MD at Mount Sinai? I'm perfectly fine if your answer is "yes" - it just means that "harder" doesn't mean something like "years of hard study". Being Queen of England was clearly one of the hardest jobs in the 20th century as there was only one. And she used family connections to get it.
  - 908B64B197 5y ago
    > A NYC taxi medallion in 2010 cost around $600,000. Does that mean it was harder to be a NYC cab driver in 2010 than to get an MD at Mount Sinai? No. Taxi medallion in NYC is an open market. You can just pick up a license if you have the means to buy it and operate legally. It is not the case in Cuba. Good luck going into the business and keeping the "right" to operate there. Meanwhile medical school is just an application you need to fill for those who couldn't get a job as a taxi driver or in a tourist resort. > I'm perfectly fine if your answer is "yes" - it just means that "harder" doesn't mean something like "years of hard study". I'm not going to comment on the "hard" part but perhaps working smarter and not harder would be better for them. Seems medical degrees from Cuba are recognized almost nowhere in the world. That speaks for the quality.