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WELCOME TO MEDLIFE!
2010-2011 Academic Year
What is MEDLIFE? At its core, MEDLIFE is a group of students and
young professionals who have decided to stand up against the injustice they see in the world.
Over 1.8 billion people worldwide lack access to a doctor. One of MEDLIFE’s most basic goals is to bring a doctor to these people.
MEDLIFE is student-run – we believe that a college student wields incredible power in the fight against poverty and we want all members to be aware of this. We want to create and foster knowledgeable, capable, and motivated student leaders who can help us in our cause.
MEDLIFE seeks to improve access to Medicine, Education, and Development for the poorest of the poor. We have a number of pathways in which we achieve this mission and we aren’t constrained by a single platform or methodology.
MEDLIFE works alongside the poor. We believe that one of the most important things we can do for the poor is give them a voice. We build relationships with people and communities, listening to their problems and working together to seek out the solution. We seek to bridge the gap between what the poor have and what they’re trying to achieve.
We try to work within the existing infrastructure. MEDLIFE doesn’t want to create a parallel healthcare system in any of the countries in which we work, we want to improve the existing systems to create a long-term, sustainable change.
MEDLIFE’s History Founded in 2005 by Nick Ellis as a University of Maine
student group. Nick organized MEDLIFE’s first medical mission to Cebadas,
Ecuador. Upon returning home, he raised funds to provide heart surgery for a young boy he had encountered on the mission.
Over the past 5 years MEDLIFE has expanded to new schools, refined the Mobile Clinic structure and has recently created the MEDLIFE Fund to engage in more sustainable forms of aid.
MEDLIFE has reached tens of thousands of patients in Ecuador, Peru, and Panama, and we hope to reach hundreds of thousands more with expanded numbers of Mobile Clinics and MEDLIFE Fund projects.
Continues to rely on motivated students for the leadership, expansion, and funding of our organization.
Where we work
MEDLIFE currently operates Mobile Clinics in the following locations:
Cebadas, Ecuador
MEDLIFE’s birthplace. We operate Mobile Clinics in small villages located high in the Andean mountain range of central Ecuador.
Tena, Ecuador
MEDLIFE also brings Mobile Clinics to the Amazonian region of Ecuador, delivering aid to the small, rural villages outside of Tena.
Cuzco, Peru
MEDLIFE has recently begun operating Mobile Clinics in Andean Peru. We work in rural towns surrounding the ancient Incan capital of Cusco.
Lima, PeruMEDLIFE’s main office in Latin American is located in the capital of Peru, a city over 9 million inhabitants. MEDLIFE operates Mobile Clinics in the poor Pueblos Jovenes on the outskirts of Lima.
La Chorrera, Panama
This past Summer MEDLIFE offered it’s first-ever Mobile Clinic in Panama, in the district of La Chorrera outside of the capital city.
Organizational Structure
Executive BoardCEO: Nicolas Ellis
CFO: Colin Pile
Student Advisory Board (SAB)
Undergrads and recent grads
All ChaptersStudent-run
MEDVIDAFull-time employees in
Latin America (currently 4)
All operations in Latin America
Volunteer and Fundraise towards
Student Chapters
MEDLIFE Student Chapters are responsible for: Participating in Mobile Clinics Fundraising toward MEDLIFE Fund projects Providing educational opportunities to
students regarding global health Hosting regular chapter meetings to
promote each of these activitiesMembership is open to the entire student body. Chapters are directed jointly by the SAB and chapter officers.
What we’ve done this Summer:
Mobile Clinics this Summer:
Operated 11 week-long Mobile Clinics in Peru, Panama, and Ecuador, with over 200 students participating.
Brought a doctor to over 7,500 patients.
Telan Playa school project
MEDLIFE’s inaugural MEDLIFE Fund project brought a new classroom to the primary school in Telan Playa, Ecuador. Previously, 55 students were packed into a small classroom, in which two teachers taught simultaneously from opposite sides of the room. Now, Telan Playa has sufficient teaching space for all students. All money for the project was raised during our nationwide fundraising push for the MEDLIFE Fund this past April.
Las Minas Stair Project
On a Mobile Clinic in Lima this past May, MEDLIFE encountered a patient whose young daughter had serious developmental defects due to a severely premature birth. The cause? When 6 months pregnant, she slipped and fell on the muddy slopes outside of her house in the neighborhood of Las Minas. MEDLIFE immediately recognized the need for stairways (which in addition to reducing the risk of accident, also greatly increase the likelihood that the Peruvian government will bring basic utilities such as water and electricity to a community). Throughout the Summer, MEDLIFE constructed 3 sets of stairways in Las Minas, and now plans to team up with the local government to build 50 sets of staircases in the hillside communities surrounding Lima.
InternshipsMEDLIFE offered it’s first official MEDLIFE Summer internship program for undergraduates. MEDLIFE hosted 3 interns in Riobamba, Ecuador and 3 in Lima, Peru. Interns helped lead MEDLIFE Mobile Clinics, worked on MEDLIFE Fund projects, and followed up with patients in need after each Mobile Clinic. MEDLIFE will offer additional internships for undergrads this coming Summer.
First-ever Mobile Clinic in Panama
A small group of students from Northwestern
University participated in MEDLIFE’s first operation
in Panama, bringing a Mobile Clinic to the district
of La Chorrera outside of the capital city. The clinic
ran very smoothly and MEDLIFE looks forward to
continuing to work in Panama.
New Mobile Clinic Model
In our most recent Mobile Clinic in Lima, Peru, our group of participants from the
University of Pennsylvania were treated a number of additions to the Mobile Clinic
model. These changes included:
Community Development Station
Each day, a group of students worked apart from the clinic at a new “Community Development” station. This involved working in Las Minas on our stair project. Over the course of the week the participants, working hand-in-hand with the people of Las Minas, built an entire staircase and retention wall for the community. It was a great opportunity for MEDLIFE members to personally get to know the people we serve, and to make a direct contribution to the welfare of Las Minas.
“Poverty Class”
Following each clinic day, MEDLIFE brought a speaker to meet with the group. Speakers included two current MEDLIFE patients, a local police chief, a Ministry of Health doctor, and a community president. The goal: increase the participants’ awareness of the
myriad problems faced by those living in extreme poverty.
Mega-ClinicOur newest MEDVIDA employee, Carlos Benavides, organized a Mega-Clinic on the final Saturday of the brigade. Working in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, branches of the local and national government, and various NGOs operating in Lima, MEDLIFE was able to provide medical care to over 1100 patients, gynecological exams for nearly 100 women, and issued national identity cards (often difficult and costly to acquire, and required for entry into the national insurance plan) to over 600 children.
Each of these additions to our Mobile Clinic format was a huge success, both in
delivering increased aid to our patients and in improving Mobile Clinic participant experience. MEDLIFE looks forward to
continuing to offer such opportunities on future Mobile Clinics.
Our Operation
Mobile Clinics Internships National Leadership Positions The MEDLIFE Fund
Mobile Clinics
A Mobile Clinic is more than just a medical mission. A Mobile Clinic represents MEDLIFE’s sincere commitment to sustainable improvements in
community health. It is our first point of contact with a local population, and our first means of
assistance.
How is it different from a medical mission?
We hire local doctors rather than bringing foreign doctors from the US. We feel that local doctors are better equipped to provide care to the local population.
We have a permanent team on the ground to follow up with all patients who require additional care.
We bring dentists, gynecologists, and other specialists to provide educational services and preventative care.
The Mobile Clinic provides our first point of contact with the community. We want to build trusting relationships with every community in which we work so that we may deliver better care and MEDLIFE Fund projects in the future. A Mobile Clinic is the first step in this process.
What will I do?
Mobile Clinics typically last one week. Each weekday, MEDLIFE brings our clinic to a different community. On the weekend,
participants are offered a choice of tourist activities.
Each clinic day, participants will be assigned to a station. Throughout the
week, each participant will rotate through all 5 stations. Stations include:Toothbrushing
Shadowing a Dentist
Shadowing a Doctor
PharmacyTriage
We are also looking to integrate the “Poverty Class” series of local speakers, and the Community Development station in which students work together with locals on a development project, into all future Mobile Clinics.
How can I join? We operate Mobile Clinics in Peru, Ecuador, and
Panama. You can apply through our website, where all
Mobile Clinic dates and locations will be listed. You do not need to speak Spanish to participate,
but a basic knowledge can be very helpful. The participation fee, currently $679.50, covers all
meals and housing (you will stay at a hotel). The fee does not cover plane tickets or tourism activities. Participants may also fundraise towards their trip – for every dollar you raise for MEDLIFE, 50 cents will be taken off of your participation fee.
You do not need to be pre-med to participate – we believe this is a valuable experience for students of all academic backgrounds.
MEDLIFE Internships
MEDLIFE is now offering Summer and
year-round internships in Ecuador and Peru.
We are seeking out students and recent
graduates from all academic disciplines – the only requirement
is that you have a passion to help the
poor! Please contact Tommy Flint at
[email protected] for more information
on our internship program.
National Leadership Positions
The Student Advisory Board oversees all MEDLIFE Chapter operations across North
America. Student members of the SAB are directly responsible for running MEDLIFE on
a national level. The SAB will be seeking out new members throughout the coming academic year. Please contact SAB co-
Chairs Hannah Roberts ([email protected]) and JP Gorham (
[email protected]) for more information on joining the SAB.
The MEDLIFE Fund
The MEDLIFE Fund is MEDLIFE’s initiative to engage in sustainable, large-scale projects that deliver Medicine, Education, and Development to the poor. 100% of all Chapter fundraising and all monetary donations to the MEDLIFE Fund goes directly to funding these projects, rather than to any part of MEDLIFE’s operational or administrative budget. All money intended for the poor goes to the poor. MEDLIFE has staff on the ground in Latin America to coordinate and supervise all our projects. The MEDLIFE Fund gives students an opportunity to make a sustainable, concrete change in the lives of the poor.
Ways that you can get involved
Become a contributing chapter member or officer
Apply to join the SAB or for an internship Participate in a Mobile Clinic FUNDRAISE! We created the MEDLIFE Fund
so that all students can make a direct contribution to improving the lives of the poor. Fundraising is supremely important to MEDLIFE’s success and all MEDLIFE members should consider it their duty to assist with our fundraising efforts.
Pamplona Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpNxENOsvq4
orhttp://vimeo.com/14754551
Next MEDLIFE Fund project – Build a clinic for the people of Pamplona
All proceeds of your chapter’s first fundraiser of the year will go towards building a new clinic for the people of Pamplona. This project will benefit over 20,000 people who currently do not have easy access to a doctor.
Contact info CSULB Chapter President:
Julie Smithwick 562 303 7107 [email protected]
www.medlifeweb.org [email protected] Internships and Mobile Clinics:
Tommy Flint ([email protected]) Student Advisory Board:
JP Gorham ([email protected])Hannah Roberts
