The 103 new doctors come from seven of South Africa’s nine provinces.

At the ceremony, held at the University of the Witwatersrand, they received their professional degree from Dr. of Science Heidi Soca, from Cuban Universities of Medical Sciences, who was accompanied at the ceremony by Dr. of Science Fidela Reyes, from the Cuban Ministry of Public Health.

The graduates, according to the representatives of the SA Ministry of Health attending the ceremony, received a unique perspective based on preventive care during their training in Cuba.

In their words, they thanked Cuba for having trained them as ‘compassionate and resilient doctors’, who will now contribute to ensuring that every SA has access to medical services.

The newly graduated doctors affirmed they are proof of the vision of two extraordinary leaders, Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro, and an example of what can be achieved in collaboration in human development.

The 103 new specialists thus join the more than 3,100 young SA graduates who have studied medicine in Cuban universities as part of the Fidel Castro-Nelson Mandela Program, conceived in 1996.

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