Congratulations to MEDLIFE chapter at the University of Kansas for winning Best New MEDLIFE Chapter Award 2015! MEDLIFE at KU has made incredible strides within this past semester. Through successful campaigning and hard work, they sent 23 students on a mobile clinic, raised $520 and elected 8 new executive board members. We´re proud to have their president Aly Lange interning with us in Lima this summer. Read the following interview to find out more about this amazing chapter!
When and how did your chapter begin?
The MEDLIFE chapter at the University of Kansas began when their Chapter President, Aly Lange, transferred to the University of Kansas from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the Fall of 2014. There is a very strong MEDLIFE chapter at UNL, and after seeing that there wasn’t a chapter at KU, Aly started one!
What strategies did you use to promote MEDLIFE on campus?
At KU, social media outreach goes a long way! MedLife KU utilizes Facebook events and groups, e-mail, GroupMe, Twitter and Instagram extensively to keep chapter members engaged and informed. They also do lots of tabling throughout the year as well as chalking the sidewalks of campus!
What process does a new member go through once part of the chapter?
Something that helps MedLife KU stand out against similar organizations on campus is that it has an “open arms” policy for students! It welcomes students of all majors, time constraints and disciplines to join at any point in the year. Once a student expresses interest in joining MedLife KU, we add them to our e-mail list and all social media groups that they can stay in the loop and be invited to meetings!
What activities do you organize to keep your members interested throughout the year?
This year, MedLife KU will implement a within-Chapter competition called the Family Cup. We have 7 members who will act as “Mama”s and “Papa”s to their “Family” of 5-10 students. Each MedLife KU event will be worth a certain number of points for the Family Cup, and the top 3 scoring Families will receive a prize at the end of the year! In addition, individual students that accumulate a certain number of points will be awarded special recognition and prizes.
MedLife KU also hosts a number of annual fundraisers throughout the year. This includes Music For Medicine (a battle of the bands), Sweethears for Staircases (a Valentine’s Day candy delivery service), and Serves for Service (a volleyball tournament). MedLife KU will expand upon this to add at least 3 more major fundraisers in the upcoming year. They also are hosting 2 MEDTALK conferences this year, in order to bring University-wide attention to global health issues.
They also plan to host more social events for members to meet fellow students interested in going on MEDLIFE trips over both Winter, Spring and Summer breaks!
What are your goals as a chapter for this academic year (2015-2016)?
This year, MedLife KU is determined to raise at least $1000 for MEDLIFE throughout the course of the school year and to send a total of 50 students on mobile clinic trips. They also want to reach out to at least 3 high schools and colleges to help start new MEDLIFE chapters!
