Due to final exams the beginning of the year at the LASM started off really stressful.  This fact, however, was not true for Cubans since they happily celebrated the New Year and the 50^th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution (January 1^st).  There were a lot more activities on the streets for the New Year’s celebration than there were for Christmas. 

Medicina General Integral, MGI

Right after final exams we started the second phase of Integral General Medicine, the first phase was given in November 2007.  I was placed under the supervision of Dr. María del Carmen Sanabria at a clinic in Guanabacoa, a neighborhood of Havana.  Dr. Sanabria is both an author and a professor of Integral General Medicine.  In fact, I was invited to attend the release of her latest book, which will be published very soon.

During the three weeks of MGI we learned, among other things, how to classify, evaluate, interview, and educate individuals or even entire families.  The main purpose of MGI II is the promotion of health, which is characteristic of the preventive medicine practiced in Cuba. 

At the clinic in Guanabacoa Dr. Sanabria assigned a family to my classmate Elaine Pereira and I.  When Elaine and I showed-up at the family’s house we were warmly welcomed.  There were, however, two very young girls that were a bit frightened as we entered the house because they didn’t know what we were doing there.  Nevertheless, it did not take long for us to gain their trust.  They even ended up helping the parents answer some of the questions that we asked and they also helped guide us as we inspected the house.  After we gathered all the information that we needed for our studying purposes the family invited us to get some rest and drink a cup of coffee.  We accepted the invitation and, let me tell you, the coffee was delicious. 

Guanabacoa

According to one of the patients at the clinic, Guanabacoa is known as the pueblo embrujado, the hunted town, due to its culture.  A large percentage of the town’s people practice Santería but many others practice a different religion.  Dr. Sanabria talked to us extensively about the importance of respecting and treating patients equally regardless of their religion.  This is very important because many of the students, including myself, at the LASM will, at one point in our career, practice medicine in remote areas of the world where we will encounter a religion that is unfamiliar to us.

Guanabacoa is a very peaceful town during the day.  In the morning as I walked through the dirt roads on my way to the clinic I mostly observed elderly women on the streets; men were seen at the fields collecting their fruits and vegetables.  While at the clinic I met María Dolores Hernandez, a woman from Spain who came to Cuba in 1952 and who refuses to leave.  Actually, she refuses to leave Guanabacoa because she really likes the neighborhood.  I remember that as she entered the clinic she saw the nurse, Caridad Sillero, and said, “mi princesa, la que cuida bién a los viejitos,” Those words, which translate to “my princess, the one that cares well for the elderly,” were so sincere that the nurse smiled and hugged Dolores.  As Dolores waited to be seen by Dr. Sanabria she joined us in the conversation about religion in Guanabacoa.  In fact, she even sang to us a song that she had composed which reflects on the religious practices in this neighborhood.