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CHAPTER SPOTLIGHT: UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO – RIO PIEDRAS

The University of Puerto Rico at Recinto de Rio Piedras’ MEDLIFE chapter never seizes to impress! This chapter has seen significant progress since it got its start three years ago. From organizing consistently successful events, to achieving incredible growth in membership, this MEDLIFE stands out as a group with a big impact. Read the following interview with U.P.R.R.P. to learn more about this chapter, how they recruit new members, and what they do to support MEDLIFE’s mission on campus and in the local community.

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When and how did your chapter begin? What strategies did you use to promote MEDLIFE on campus? 

Our MEDLIFE chapter, UPR-RP, began three years ago. Only eight people showed up to our first meeting, but regardless, we stayed motivated and continued with the chapter.  At the beginning, we had one or two activities per month, and little by little more people kept joining.  The following year, the chapter had 120 people and in the winter of that year we were able to bring around 60 of those members on a mobile clinic trip, which was a huge achievement for us.  After that trip people just couldn’t resist our marketing!  We increased the number of activities, had our first initiation as a club and ended up with 180 people in our chapter.  The following academic year, in August of 2014, we made a huge push in advertising through Facebook and all over the University; we held lots of service activities almost every week, in addition to fundraisers and other chapter activities.  I feel very proud to say that after our aggressive recruitment campaign, we now have more than 375 active members of our chapter.

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What process does a new member go through once part of the chapter?

In order for a member to be considered “active” in our organization, they have to participate in at least three service activities and two fundraisers.  Beyond that, they have to attend the chapter meetings and must always demonstrate our organization’s values.

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What activities do you organize to keep your members interested throughout the year? 

We have activities literally every week, which are either service or fundraising events. We always put photos from the events on Facebook, which makes other people want to participate in our activities.  We organize activities based on what our members ask for; if they want to work with homeless people, then we do activities that have to do with the homeless, both children and the elderly.  We also work together with several other organizations when they need volunteers.  The idea is to do simple but interesting activities.

We have some fun fundraising activities such as selling treats and cards that we made for Valentine’s Day, selling pizza, selling breakfast or lunch, and bake sales with our famous brownies!  We hold educational activities, such as our first MEDTalk where we brought a public health specialist, who is held in very high-esteem here in Puerto Rico, Dr. Vargas Vidot.  He focuses his practice on service and helping people in need. During this event, 80 people attended, and we had students from the InterAmerican UPR–Aguadilla chapter come as well!

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What are your goals as a chapter for this academic year (2014-2015)?

Our goals for this academic year, 2014-2015:

  1. Have over 250 chapter members – Done!
  2. Fundraise $500 during the first semester – Done!
  3. Have our first MEDTalk UPR-RP – Done!
  4. Take on a community project in Peru
  5. Do the first mobile clinic in Puerto Rico

Archives

Hear it From MEDLIFErs

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Reya Seby
Western University

This trip motivated me more to pursue a career in the healthcare field so that I can use my resources to help those who need it the most, similar to MEDLIFE’s mission.

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Victoria DiCanio
University of Connecticut

It was most enjoyable to finish the hard work and see how big a difference a group of individuals can make. It was such an amazing experience.

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Anita Woo
University of Toronto

I enjoyed the mobile clinics the most, especially the dental and triage portions. I would definitely recommend a MEDLIFE trip, it was a great experience.

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David Saff
Maclay High School

The most enjoyable part of my trip was hanging out with the amazing group of kids I was with. I would highly recommend a MEDLIFE volunteer trip to others.

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Sydney Sansone
Nova Southeastern University

This trip made everything that I was learning in my public health courses come to life and immersed me in a new culture while also learning about medicine.

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Abygail Youmans
College of Charleston

Being involved with MEDLIFE is not like joining another club - its bigger than that. It is about joining a movement that seeks to help change people’s quality of life for forever.

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Emi Hofmann
University of Central Florida

Not only was I able to participate in a week long Mobile Clinic, shadowing doctors of all types of specialties including pharmacy, dentistry, gynecology, and more, but I was also able to learn about the culture and visit incredible places.

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Julian Takagi-Stewart
University of Toronto

One thing that I really loved about this trip was that MEDLIFE made sure that the volunteers got an understanding of the complexity of issues that lead to underprivileged people in communities outside of the main city

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Hannah Van Hofwegen
University of Ottawa

Whether it was basketball with the local kids, assisting the doctors, talking with families, building washrooms, holding babies, or spending time with the people who were on the SLT with me, this was an amazing opportunity that I would do over and over again.

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Isabelle Holt
Cornell University

I loved learning about the patients MEDLIFE has followed and how they offer real help to people with chronic/urgent conditions. It is amazing how the organization formed real connections with the communities.

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Valerie Lindeborg
Parent

Our family had the privilege of participating in multiple trips with Nick [founder] and his amazing staff. Their expertise made the trips unforgettable while instilling in my boys the fundamentals of good character: selflessness, compassion, and empathy.

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Harry Vildibill
University of Georgia

As an aspiring physician, MEDLIFE motivated me to further continue my goal of becoming a doctor. In fact, I enjoyed the Tanzania Service Learning Trip so much that I decided to go on another trip to Cusco, Peru.