The Final Call

April 13, 2010


The Medical Scholars Program
Developing Community Based Doctors
by Brian E. Muhammad
Contributing Writer

An expert panel discussion titled "Developing Community Based Doctors: A Solution to the Health Crises in America" was convened by Muhammad University of Islam (M.U.I.). Central to the discussion was M.U.I. Medical Scholars Program which includes the Cuban Scholarship opportunity given to the Nation of Islam by former president Fidel Castro and the Cuban people. The scholarship program is an initiative by the Cuban leader to produce medical doctors from around the world through providing full scholarships to the celebrated Latin American School of Medicine (LASMS) in Havana.

The workshop was moderated by Dr. Larry Muhammad, Nation­al Director of M.U.I. and the panel consisted of Sociologist, Dr. Ray Muhammad; Shirley Muhammad of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania who is credited with being a strong ad­vocate for the gift; Kelly Fair of Project Achieve; Dr. Alan Jackson of Chicago's Roseland Hospital who represented Reverend Lucius Walker and Dr. Abdul Alim Muhammad, Minister of Health and Human Services of the Nation of Islam.

The purpose of the session was to increase awareness and availability of the scholarship program and the critical reasons there is a need for more Black doctors to be trained and serve the Black community. Each panelist emphasized the importance of taking advantage of Cuba's of­fer as a means to address the lack of Black doctors, starting with Dr. Ray Muhammad who presented the case for the scholarship program's relevancy. Dr. Ray provided evidence using current statistics on the negative health and social condition of the Black community.

Along with the existing health disparities in America, there is also an imbalance of who serves Black and Latino groups, according to statistics distributed at the forum. Blacks, Latinos and Indigenous make up 25 percent of the U.S. pop­ulation, however only6 percent of the nation's physicians.

Dr. Alim said because of the exorbitant tuition costs there are dwindling opportunities for Black youth to enter into medical school in the U.S.

"The doors are going to be closed to medical education in America for your child," Dr. Alim said.

The gift is a "big deal" that needs to be taken full advantage of accord­ing to Dr. Alim who has travelled to Havana several times to review Cuba's scholarship program.

"This is the biggest thing that ever happened to Black people in Ameri­ca—this is the greatest gift that we have ever received," Dr. Alim said.

Dr. Alim presented the market value of the gift in monetary terms saying if one thousand of us took advantage of the Cuban Medical Scholarship Program sending just one of our children to Cuba to re­ceive a medical degree; its worth equals $200 million.

He also said the added value if the graduates return to the community, sets up a practice, making $100,000 per year multiplied over an average career of forty years calculates to a $4 billion gift from the Cubans.

In the spirit of interfaith coopera­tion, the Nation of Islam is working with The Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO) and its project "Pastors for Peace" led by Reverend Lucius Walker Jr., as well as partnering with Christ Universal Temple which shares the mutual goal to increase the level of academic preparedness of students entering medical school.

Kelly Fair said she saw the pro­gram as an opportunity to increase the vision possibility of Black youth she is working with in the community through her church.

Dr. Alan Jackson reminded the audience of the sacrificial nature of the gift coming from a country that has been under embargo and sanctions by the U.S. government. Dr. Jackson said the best way to return the favor to Cuba is for Black America to fight diligently for the lifting of the embargo.

Another highlight of the ses­sion was the appearance and presentation of Dr. Desta Muhammad, a graduate of the program. Dr. Muhammad is the first doctor to return from Cuba and is the Nation of Islam's first community-based doctor to come out of the program.



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