Suva, June 7, 2026.- At a time when Fiji faces growing mental health challenges, the story of Dr. Rick Fong stands as a testament to resilience, dedication, and international cooperation. At 35, Dr. Fong has become the only psychiatrist serving Fiji’s Western Division, working as a Senior Psychiatrist in the Stress Management Unit, following a long educational journey that took him from Fiji to the provinces of Havana and Guantánamo in Cuba.
The path was not easy. As part of the first group of three Fijian doctors to apply and graduate from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), Dr. Fong had to struggle to adapt to a different culture and master the Spanish language in order to pursue his medical studies.
“Some of the biggest challenges included learning Spanish to study medicine, leaving my home to live on another continent, and later returning to Fiji to apply that knowledge in English within a healthcare system we were unfamiliar with,” Dr. Fong explained in his interview with the Fiji Sun.
“Cuba's healthcare system is internationally recognized for achieving excellent results with limited resources, and its hospitality and resilience are admirable,” adds Dr. Fong, who is deeply grateful to the Cuban government.
Dr. Fong’s time in Cuba not only shaped his professional future but also his personal life. It was there that he met his wife, Nathalia, a Colombian national, who was a key pillar in guiding him toward a specialization in mental health. Today, the couple are parents to Emma, a two-year-old girl, and Dr. Fong treats hundreds of patients daily who are experiencing emotional and psychiatric crises.
For his part, Cuban Ambassador to Fiji, Néstor Torres, emphasized that the Medical Scholarship Program for the Pacific Islands represents one of the strongest examples of South-South cooperation. Since the program’s expansion to the region in 2006, more than 240 islanders, including 32 Fijians, have graduated as doctors from Cuban institutions, returning to their home countries to strengthen public health systems.
You can read the full article in English published in the Fiji Sun: