DUANE PETRUS – Seventy prospective medical students from the Free State and Northern Cape will be sent to Cuba in September to study there.
They form part of 780 students from all over the country who will go to the South American country in the South Africa/Cuba Medical Collaboration programme.
Deputy Health Minister, Gwen Ramakgopa, says there is a shortfall of 20 000 doctors in the country.
Ramakgopa says all the medical schools in the country take a combined intake of 1 200 students per year.
“You must fight, pass and excel. You must be amongst the best excelling students in the world. The world must know South African students by how they perform and by the passion they have for excellence,” Ramakgopo told the students.
Cuba has 23 medical schools and a population of 11 million, while South Africa only has 8 medical schools with a population of 53 million.
