Six aspiring medical professionals from Suriname have successfully completed their seven-year training programs at multiple higher education institutions across Cuba, marking a much-anticipated milestone that will soon expand the South American nation’s local healthcare workforce. The graduates — Alan Deel, Rehuel Tuinfort, Safiela Willems, Sharma Kastil, Kajol Khoenkhoen and Abigail Hintzen — received their medical degrees during a central commencement ceremony held at Havana’s Karl Marx Theatre, Cuba’s largest performance and event venue.
This year’s graduation event carried extra historical weight, as it coincided with the centennial celebration of the birth of Fidel Castro Ruz. The Surinamese students joined hundreds of other newly minted doctors from 70 different countries across the globe to cross the stage and collect their credentials during the formal proceedings.
Yoandra Valle, the general director of the Cuban university system overseeing the medical program, emphasized in her keynote address that all participating students were trained in alignment with the core principles that define Cuba’s renowned approach to medical education: a foundation rooted in both humanistic care and rigorous scientific and technical practice.
Representatives from the Surinamese Embassy in Cuba attended the ceremony to support the graduating cohort. In an official statement following the event, the embassy described the group’s achievement as a unique milestone for both the students and Suriname’s public health sector, extending warm congratulations to the six new doctors on their years of hard work that culminated in this success.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Cooperation of Suriname also issued a public message congratulating the graduates and their families, wishing the new physicians prosperity and fulfillment in their upcoming professional careers. According to the embassy, all six graduates are eager to complete their final preparations and return to their home country, where they plan to apply the advanced skills and knowledge they gained in Cuba to drive further improvement and expansion of Suriname’s public healthcare system.