Cuba to graduate 11,000 doctors from 60 countries

HAVANA - Cuba will see the largest number of medical graduates in its history this month, when 11,000 would-be doctors are to finish college, the official Granma daily reported Wednesday.

According to Granma, 5,315 of the graduates are Cubans, while 5,694 are from 59 other countries and regions.

Countries with the largest number of graduates from Cuban medical universities include Bolivia, with more than 2,400, followed by Peru with 453, and Nicaragua with 429.

Including the 11,000 students, the total number of medical graduates churned out by Cuban medical universities will reach 32,000 in the 2011-2012 academic year. Their studies cover 24 areas ranging from dentistry, psychology to nursing, Granma said.

Cuba's free and high quality health services and educational system are the pride of the Cubans.

From 1959 to 2010, Cuban medical universities graduated nearly 109,000 students, both from inside and outside the island country.

Nearly each Cuban province has its own university of medical sciences, except the new provinces of Mayabeque, Artemisa, and the Isle of Youth.

The island nation has also sent many of its professors to train medical students in foreign countries.

Currently under the training program are more than 29,000 students in eight countries - Venezuela, Bolivia, Angola, Tanzania, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia and East Timor.