Mementos From Our 2003 Conference

These pictures were taken by Elaine Adler who was on our 2003 trip

A Cuban Dermatologist

Adios Muchachos (2001)

by Daniel Chavarria

This is a funny, memorable crime novel that gives one insight into many aspects of present day Cuban culture.

“Fun, fast and intelligent, this devilishly charming import gives pulp fiction a good name. Hailed as one of the best Latin writers, Uruguayan-born Chavarr¡a is well known throughout Europe as well as in Latin America. The story, a madcap caper full of twisted sex, devious schemes and high-rolling hijinks, also showcases Chavarr¡a's considerable scholarly research into prostitution. When Alicia, a crafty, bicycle-riding Havana hooker in present-day Cuba, meets Victor, a convicted bank robber masquerading as an upstanding businessman, they quickly realize each other's mutually nefarious motives and wind up in a business pact that leads to larceny, kidnapping and death. Linguistic and cultural tidbits illuminate the intelligence at work behind the bawdy and raw story, while the narrative reveals the exploitative nature of economic forces at work in Cuba. 

Amazon

Tentative Faculty

Confirmed Speakers
2017 Cuba-Hawaii Hot Spots in Dermatology

Jag Bhawan	Chief of Dermatopathology Boston University School of Medicine
Rokea el-Azahry	Editor in Chief, International Journal of Dermatology Professor of Dermatology, The May Clinic Rochester, Minnesota
David Elpern	Co-Founder Virtual Grand Rounds in Dermatology Williamstown, Massachusetts
Lawrence Gibson	Professor of Dermatology and Dermatopathology Mayo Medical School and Clinic Rochester, Minnesota
Douglas Johnson	Associate Professor of Dermatology John A. Burns School of Medicine Honolulu, Hawaii
Patrick Kenny	Head, Melanoma Center – Victoria, British Columbia University of British Columbia
Ashfaq Marghoob	Head, Hauppauge Dermatology Section, Memorial Sloan Kettering  Cancer Center Director of American Dermoscopy Meeting
Mary Maloney	Chairman of Dermatology Department Chief of Micrographic Surgery University of  Massachusetts School of Medicine
Amanda Oakley	Honorary Associate Professor, Waikato Clinical Campus, University of Auckland, New Zealand Founder, DermNet.org
George Reizner	Professor of Dermatology University of Wisconsin, Madison Treasurer, International Society of Dermatology
Jose R. Ruiz	Medical Resident Brown University School of Medicine
Caitlin Stiglmeier	Pediatrics and Global Health Kauai, Hawaii and Syracuse, New York
Omid Zargari	Consultant Dermatologist, Founder, IranDerma Rasht, Iran

Trading With The Enemy

Oblivious to national borders, pigeons have long carried messages between Havana and Key West, the southernmost city in the continental United States. A well-trained pigeon can make the 100-mile journey in roughly four hours. A sailboat takes 24. People have used pigeons as messengers from the dawn of civilization in Sumer. The U.S. military used homing birds through the Vietnam War. But in the age of drones, a feather-and-bone messenger seems outdated, particularly when the U.S. government spends millions of dollars on surveillance blimps that drift over the Florida Straits looking for illicit traffic.

Despite a trade embargo and the Trading with the Enemy Act (which the United States only applies to Cuba), Havana and Key West have always had a close relationship. Their cultures have been shaped by a history of transporting illicit cargo, dating back to the rumrunners of the Prohibition era. They’re like sister cities, despite the barricade aimed at separating them.

Trading With The Enemy is a 2 minute film documenting pigeons transporting Cubn cigars from Havana to Key West...

Meeting Announcement

Cuban Hot Spots 2017
January 28 – 30, 2017
Havana and Beyond

We are in the early planning stages for a conference to be held in Cuba in late January 2017 and are inviting you to consider joining us.  This will be a person-to-person meeting between U.S. and Cuban dermatologists.  As you know, many CME meetings are underwritten by PhRMA.  The speakers are hired guns who preach the message of their handlers: usually, the use of branded, expensive products. Cuba, today, can not afford biologics for most patients.

We intend to gather a group of dermatologists (and a few others) who want to share some of their experiences with our Cuban colleagues.  While Cuba has many well-trained physicians, they have not had access to the technological tools that we utilize hourly in the U.S.  Our speakers will share their experience.

All participants (including the organizers) of Cuban Hot Spots will pay their own way.  We do not provide travel stipends or honoraria.  We have enlisted the help of Jose R. Ruiz, a young Cuban doctor, to coordinate the program with us.  He will help too make this symposium unique.

We will limit the size of our group to keep Cuban Hot Spots amiable.  If you wish to reserve a place for 2017 please let us know.  A $100 nonrefundable fee will reserve a spot. The deposit money will be used for textbooks and other supplies for physicians and clinics that we will send down to the island.

Abrazos,

David Elpern

Douglas Johnson

George Reizner

Close Encounters

encuentros breves

 crean 

 amistades duranderas

brief encounters

create

 lasting friendships 

Rosa Blanca Jose Marti

Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca

by Jose Marti

This is Jose Marti's most famous poem.

Cultivo una rosa blanca
en junio como enero
para el amigo sincero
que me da su mano franca. Y para el cruel que me arranca
el corazón con que vivo,
cardo ni ortiga cultivo;
cultivo la rosa blanca.

I have a white rose to tend
In July as in January;
I give it to the true friend
Who offers his frank hand to me.
And for the cruel one whose blows
Break the heart by which I live,
Thistle nor thorn do I give:
For him, too, I have a white rose.