Skip to content

Medicine Schools and Programs in Cuba

Medicine Studies in Cuba

Medicine in Cuba is taught at state universities of medical sciences, which answer to the Ministry of Public Health (Ministerio de Salud Pública, MINSAP) rather than to the education ministry. Teaching is in Spanish. Foreign students come either on a Cuban government scholarship or as self-financed students, and one institution in Havana, the Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina (ELAM), was set up specifically for students from other countries.

Our directory lists 1 institution in Cuba under Medicine: the Centro de Cibernética Aplicada a la Medicina (CECAM) in Havana, a centre for medical informatics that belongs to the Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana.

How medical education is organised

The catalogue of Cuba's Ministry of Higher Education (MES) lists Medicine as a university degree (carrera universitaria) (consulted in October 2026). The degree is taught by the universities of medical sciences: MINSAP's directory has one for each of the 15 provinces and for the Isla de la Juventud. In the MES register of institutions they appear under the Ministry of Public Health, each with an accreditation category. The Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana and ELAM both hold the highest category, Excelencia.

After the first degree, doctors continue with postgraduate training. The MES register of postgraduate programmes covers three types, the postgraduate speciality (especialidad de posgrado), the master's degree and the doctorate, and the medical universities are among the authorised institutions.

Where to study

ELAM is on the Carretera Panamericana in Santa Fe, Havana. Its stated mission is to train doctors oriented towards primary health care for Latin America and other parts of the world, and the school says it has trained people from more than 90 countries. The 2026-27 academic year opened in September.

CECAM does not award the medical degree. It is the centre of the Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana for medical informatics: according to EcuRed, the Cuban state online encyclopedia, it began in 1973 as a computing department of the medical faculty of the Universidad de La Habana and launched the master's degree in Health Informatics (Informática en Salud) in the 1996-97 academic year. The Revista Cubana de Informática Médica was created at CECAM in 2001.

Admission for international students

ELAM describes two ways to obtain a place (information updated on 18 December 2025):

  • a scholarship offered by the Cuban government to the applicant's country, which arrives through Cuban embassies and consulates and is awarded by health ministries, non-governmental, solidarity or political organisations
  • the self-financed route, for which the applicant sends a personal request to [email protected], the teaching office of Servicios Médicos Cubanos

Scholarship holders must enrol in and pass ELAM's preparatory course for students of medical sciences, which starts every September.

Applicants for a full undergraduate degree at a Cuban university have to present documents legalised by a Cuban diplomatic mission abroad:

  • the secondary school leaving certificate and transcript of grades
  • a health certificate, which must include an HIV test and, for women, a certificate that they are not pregnant
  • a certificate of no criminal record
  • a birth certificate
  • ten photographs of 1 x 1 inch

They also need the letter of admission to the degree, the receipt for payment of the fees, and Cuban health insurance bought from the insurer ASISTUR, either beforehand or in the week after arrival.

Costs and recognition

Scholarship places are funded by the Cuban government. Self-financed students pay fees set through Servicios Médicos Cubanos; no official price list could be consulted for this page, so prices should be requested from that office.

Doctors who qualified elsewhere and want to do postgraduate studies or practise in Cuba need their degree recognised by the MES. The degree has to be legalised by the Cuban consulate in the country that issued it and by Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the procedure itself is free of charge. Whether a Cuban medical degree is accepted in the student's home country depends on that country's rules, so it is worth checking with the national health or education authority before enrolling.

Frequently asked questions

Can foreigners study Medicine in Cuba?

Yes. Places are obtained through a Cuban government scholarship awarded in the student's own country or through the self-financed route managed by Servicios Médicos Cubanos.

In which language is Medicine taught in Cuba?

In Spanish. Scholarship students at ELAM first take a preparatory course at the school, which starts each September.

Which documents does a foreign applicant need?

A legalised secondary school certificate and transcript, a health certificate, a certificate of no criminal record, a birth certificate and photographs, plus the admission letter, proof of payment and Cuban health insurance from ASISTUR.

Is CECAM a medical school?

No. CECAM is the medical informatics centre of the Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de La Habana; the medical degree is taught by the universities of medical sciences and ELAM.