Family medicine in Cuba: community-oriented primary care and complementary and alternative medicine.
Family physicians in Cuba and the United States operate within very different health systems. Cuba's health system is notable for achieving developed country health outcomes despite a developing country economy. The authors of this study traveled to Cuba and reviewed the literature to investigate which practices of Cuban family physicians might be applicable for US family physicians wishing to learn from the Cuban experience. We found that community-oriented primary care (COPC) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are well developed within the Cuban medical system. Because COPC and CAM are already recommended by US family medicine professional bodies, US family physicians may want to learn from the Cuban experience and perhaps incorporate elements into their individual practices.
University of Wisconsin Medical School, St. Luke's Family Practice Residency, Milwaukee, USA. ldresang@fammed.wisc.edu
Lee T
LT
Dresang
Laurie
L
Brebrick
Danielle
D
Murray
Ann
A
Shallue
Lisa
L
Sullivan-Vedder
D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003462:Cuba; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005194:Family Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D014481:United States