Are you a dedicated MEDLIFE chapter member who is looking for a way to become more involved in MEDLIFE? Applications for the MEDLIFE Student Advisory Board for the 2015-2016 school year have now opened!

Joining the MEDLIFE Student Advisory Board (SAB) is a great way to get more involved with the organization, take on more responsibility, and work towards future career goals.

 “Members of the Student Advisory Board are some of MEDLIFE’s most dedicated volunteers,” said MEDLIFE’s Expansion Associate Kendra Downer. “They are on the ground at universities interacting every day with the people that make MEDLIFE possible: our chapter members.”

MEDLIFE is currently looking for applicants with expertise in the following areas:

• Mobile Clinic Planning
• Fundraising and Event Planning
• Chapter Management (member retention and management)

“MEDLIFE hopes to expand to over 300 chapters, and with the SAB advising new and existing chapters on important chapter issues,” said Kendra, “we hope to see all MEDLIFE chapters reach their full potential.” 

This is what Student Advisory Board Member Leema John, who was part of the SAB for the 2014-15 school year, had to say about her experience:

“The SAB work that I took part in was a mix of many things,” Leema said. “During the first semester, the focus was on chapter management, which was conquered as a team. Each team member focused on a particular area of MEDLIFE and chapter development, I helped chapters in New England and Canada with fundraising efforts.”

Later in her work with SAB, they switched their focus to expansion. “I would reach out to high schools and universities both near and far that did not have MEDLIFE chapters,” she said.

Leema’s advice to prospective applicants was this:

“I would stress the importance of clear and effective communication (as the majority of it is not in person) and flexibility, as the SAB program is continually evolving to reflect the needs of MEDLIFE’s growth as an organization.”

Leema stresses that she got a lot out of the hard work she put into her time on Student Advisory board; it taught her skills that she sees as crucial to her professional development and to employment after college. “As a busy college student, the SAB team taught me to manage my time well, communicate effectively through impersonal platforms (phone, skype, email, etc), and develop a sense of accountability to both my SAB team members and chapters. As a member of the SAB team, I had the opportunity to work with students that were very diverse, but linked by dedication to the MEDLIFE mission.”

Working on the SAB also led Leema to further opportunities for professional development. Leema initially joined the SAB as a launching pad to get to the MEDLIFE summer internship that she had her eye on since she first got involved with MEDLIFE as a freshman. “I figured that the SAB was the middle ground between the position that I had held in the past, and what I aspired to obtain in the future,” Leema said. “It seemed like a great way to get further involved in an organization that I truly felt passionate about.”

In the summer of 2015, Leema traveled to Lima, Peru as a summer intern in the MEDLIFE Department of Student Affairs. Two of the other 2015 summer interns were also on the SAB board before they got the internship.

Get in your applications here as soon as possible! They will only remain open until suitable candidates have been found.