MEDLIFE at Queen’s university started small, but, with the dedication of a few motivated students, it grew rapidly. Read this interview with students from one of Canada’s very successful chapters and what they do for fundraising events, member recruitment, and their goals for this coming year!
When and how did your chapter begin?
MEDLIFE Queen’s began in the fall of 2012. Inspired by the success of the McGill chapter, we wanted to provide students at Queen’s University with opportunities to contribute to MEDLIFE’s mission. What started as five friends sitting around a kitchen table has now grown into a major source for student involvement opportunities on campus.
What strategies do you use to promote MEDLIFE on campus?
To promote MEDLIFE on campus, we strive to maintain visibility, both in person and online via social media. Whenever possible, we try to establish a face-to-face connection with students – whether that be through clubs fairs, class talks, or simply by setting up at a table in the student center, we do our best to ensure MEDLIFE Queen’s remains an available and approachable organization. In addition, we work to maintain a strong social media presence, focusing on eye-catching images and graphics. We post these not only on our own page, but also within various Facebook groups to maximize our reach. By ensuring our online presence remains professional and visually impactful, we feel we set ourselves apart from other groups on campus.
What system do you use to recruit new members? What process does a new member go through once part of the chapter?
To recruit new members, we rely a great deal on clubs fairs and events – this makes September a very busy month for us! We also send information through department email lists periodically throughout the year to promote new opportunities for involvement. Our chapter is organized into a number of committees, namely Mobile Clinics, Fundraising, Outreach & Education, Conference, and Expansion. These committees plan and execute various initiatives and require an application and interview to sit on. For students wishing to join the chapter in a more casual way, there are many ways to get involved, including volunteering, socials, outreach events, and talks.
What activities do you organize to keep your members interested throughout the year?
Throughout the year, our chapter hosts a number of fundraisers and other events. This past semester we have held a Western-themed fundraising event at a downtown bar, volunteered at a local soup kitchen, set up a “MEDMail” booth to allow students to send postcards to MEDLIFE staff and volunteers, and have held a number of general meetings. Next semester, we are looking forward to a benefit concert, 5k run, global development conference, and much more!
What are your goals as a chapter for this academic year (2014-2015)?
For this academic year, our goals include running three successful mobile clinic trips in addition to a development corps trip. We are also looking forward to new initiatives, such as our benefit concert and conference, as well as continuing annual events such as our 5k. In addition, we have placed a greater focus this year on outreach and education activities, with the aim of increasing on-campus engagement with health and human rights issues, both locally and globally.
