HAVANA, Cuba, March 25, 2009 (acn) -- Moussa Arrada, dean of the School of Medicine of the University of Algeria, today visited the Higher Institute of Medical Sciences of Havana, where he was received by the rector of the university, Jorge Gonzalez Perez.

The visit of the Algerian dean, accompanied by Abdullah Mohmoud Benali, president of the Scientific Council of that Algerian institution and Tahar Annane, head of the medicine department, is looking to lay the grounds for establishing collaboration projects between the two institutions.

Gonzalez Perez explained to the visitors the curriculum of the school that covers the careers of medicine, stomatology, nursing, psychology, and health technologies, said Cosme More Cuesta, head of the communication department of the university.

The rector highlighted a new pedagogical model implemented in Cuba for the last three disciplines that allows students who do not wish to obtain a major’s degree to graduate earlier as technicians.

He also referred to a few concepts of higher medicine studies in Cuba like incorporating work experiences to the training, that enables students to learn through work and the importance of prevention over healing as a premise for the community approach to the health care system applied in the island.

The College Policlinics project, which was first implemented five years ago and will have the first graduation of doctors, has showed similar or better results at a national level than the traditional teaching methods, said the rector.

For his part, the Algerian dean said he was interested in analyzing possibilities for cooperation in the fields of human resources training for the health sector, based on the Cuban experience. He noted that Algeria and the Caribbean island have maintained bonds of friendship for more than half a century now.

Arrada said there are eleven faculties with different departments of Odontology, Medicine and Pharmacy and announced that his government is planning to create a new faculty in the southern region of Sahara which has very poor health care coverage.

The dean expressed the interest of his government in receiving assistance from Cuban experts for the creation of this new faculty, which would be one of the main lines of collaboration.