A Cuban doctor identified as Yuli MJ shook social media this Tuesday with a heartbreaking testimony published on Facebook in which she announces her resignation from practicing medicine, not due to a lack of vocation, but for a reason she herself describes as ironic: economic necessity.
"I studied for years to become a Doctor in Cuba. I dedicated my calling, my nights, and my efforts to a sacred profession: saving lives," wrote the young woman, who appears in the photo wearing a white coat with the medical caduceus emblem embroidered on her chest.
"I had to make one of the most difficult and ironic decisions of my life: to give up practicing medicine. (I still doubt it). Not because of a lack of love for my profession, but purely out of necessity, seeking a better financial situation for my family," he recounted.
Her publication goes beyond the personal: it directly addresses the structural crisis that consumes every professional on the island, regardless of their qualifications or efforts.
"The most bitter lesson I have learned, and that thousands of Cubans live today, is that in this country nothing you do is enough," wrote Yuli MJ.
"It doesn't matter if you are a doctor, a teacher, or if you choose to start a venture in something else; it doesn't matter how many hours you work or how many inventions you create in a day. The crisis devours any effort," he added.
The harshest words in his text focus on the impact on the most vulnerable: "Seeing our children go to bed or head to school without a proper snack, witnessing the anguish of parents not knowing what to put on the table the next day, breaks your heart."
The case of Yuli MJ is no exception. Cuban doctors survive on barely 16 dollars a month, according to the average salary in the healthcare sector recorded at the end of 2025, while a basic basket for two people in Havana exceeded 41,000 pesos per month.
The Resolution 17/2026, in effect since July, raised the base salary of a newly graduated doctor to 7,045 Cuban pesos, equivalent to just over ten dollars at the informal exchange rate, a nominal increase that remains insignificant compared to the real cost of living.
Other documented testimonies reflect the same desperation. Dr. Roxangela San Martín reported that her salary “does not even cover the cost of a pack of chicken,” while her mother, a doctor with two specialties and 34 years of service, retired with a pension of only 3,000 pesos per month.
A young doctor chose to work as a bartender in a café in December 2025 after leaving her profession. And a doctor from Holguín works as a cashier at a private company because spending 5,000 pesos on transportation from a salary of 10,000 is unsustainable.
The global figures confirm the magnitude of the exodus: Cuba went from 106,131 doctors in 2021 to 75,364 in 2024, a loss of over 30,000 professionals in three years, according to data attributed to the National Office of Statistics and Information.
In total, the healthcare system lost approximately 77,522 health workers —doctors, nurses, technicians, and dentists— during that same period.
The president Miguel Díaz-Canel himself admitted in August the "magnitude of the health disaster" that the island is facing, where more than 98,500 patients were waiting for surgery and around 117,000 adults and 1,200 children with cancer lacked adequate treatments.
Yuli MJ concluded her post with a question that encapsulates the exhaustion of an entire generation of Cuban professionals: "How much longer will the efforts of the Cuban family continue to be in vain?"
Related videos:
Filed under: