FAMILY-PRACTICE IN CUBA - EVOLUTION INTO THE 1990S

A group of practising physicians, family practice academicians and med ical students visited Cuba in 1991. The purpose of this visit was to a ssess the current status of the discipline of family medicine in the c ountry. Numerous interviews were conducted with practising family phys icians, Cuban medical physicians in other medical specialties, the med ical school faculty, patients and officials from the Ministry of Publi c Health. A summary of the content of these interviews constitutes the following paper. The authors conclude that the Cubans have developed a medical care system that has its basis in family practice, and provi des a model which could be emulated not only in less developed, but al so in more developed countries.