Your Primary Care Doctor May Have an MD from Cuba: Experiences from the Latin American Medical School.

On the 40th anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration that affirmed health for all a right and primary health care the route to guarantee that right, WHO and PAHO have issued a call to action to convert universal health into reality for the nearly four billion people worldwide lacking full coverage of essential health services. There is some urgency to this movement: WHO estimates the health workforce shortage of nearly 8 million could reach almost 13 million by 2035. And the USA is not exempt: medical associations and special commissions set up to investigate the shortage of primary care physicians, especially "under-represented minority" doctors, have issued report after report on this growing health care emergency. The biggest question looming is: where will the health care providers come from, especially well-trained primary care doctors who want to work for those who need them most?