The 2020 fall semester at Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) began on an especially somber note: honoring 17 of its alumni felled as they battled COVID-19 in their home countries and beyond. A few were recent graduates among the 30,047 from 118 countries who received scholarships from Cuba to study medicine at ELAM. Others were members of its first graduating class in 2005.

Their service on the front lines during the pandemic reflects the school’s mission to train low-income students the world over who pledge to care for communities and their patients, irrespective of ability to pay…and often in public health facilities at no charge.

MEDICC Review joins fellow ELAM graduates, students and faculty in paying tribute to the service of these talented, dedicated young health professionals, and expresses our deepest condolences to their families, friends, colleagues and mentors.

Many of the pictures in this photo-feature are not publication quality. That’s not why they were taken. Rest in peace, service, and confidence in the fact that health for all is possible.