Primary care in Cuba: Considerations for the U.S.

In 2017, we traveled to Cuba to learn about the nation’s approach to health care. Despite being a developing nation, Cuba boasts health care indicators that are comparable to those of the United States and other developed nations. Emphasizing prevention and proactive care, the Cuban health care system provides lessons to inform future U.S. health care reform efforts in order to contain medical costs while providing quality care. Visiting with Cuban health care professionals over the course of eight days, and interviewing American physicians who were trained in Cuba but practice in the U.S., this paper provides an overview of key differences in primary health care in Cuba and primary care practice in the U.S. Our work has three main themes: how Cuban medicine approaches primary health care, the importance of medical curriculum in establishing these priorities, and the prioritization of the clinical encounter over technologically-advanced interventions.