Finding opportunities in global health can be difficult for premedical students. Many organizations that offer meaningful opportunities to engage in global health projects require a long-term on-site commitment, which is not feasible for premed students who have to be in school and dedicate time to clinical work, research and other extracurricular activities.
One way to participate in global health is to design a project on your own. This may sound like a daunting task, but it is achievable, and with proper planning it can serve as an excellent opportunity to demonstrate initiative toward improving the lives of others.
How do you go about establishing a global health project on your own? There are many ways to start, but some careful planning can help. A well-thought-out plan is necessary, but it is also important to delve into the experience without overthinking it. The steps below can help you get started.
Identify a Region and a Problem You Want to Solve
Global health can take place in any corner of the world and includes a wide range of issues. You don’t necessarily have to focus on something like HIV or tuberculosis. Even if you focus on a project aimed at addressing climate change or improving education for children, you will see that your efforts have health implications.
The first step is to determine the region you want to work in, the population you want to work in and the problem you want to solve. Solving the HIV crisis in sub-Saharan Africa or reducing the burden of cancer in South Asia are broad and over-ambitious. Honing in on a specific region and problem will increase the likelihood of success. For example, you may decide to focus your work on reducing the burden of high blood pressure among adults in one district in Kenya.
[Read: What You Can Do With a Public Health Degree]
It also helps to think about the approach you would want to use to address the issue. For example, will the goal of your campaign be to raise awareness about the dangers of high blood pressure within the community, or to improve access to medicines for blood pressure, or to support local health care providers to more effectively screen patients who may need blood pressure treatment?
To determine what problems are relevant in a community and what approaches are most likely to work, it is important to understand the local context.
Form Local Partnerships
Stakeholders from the region you want to work in can help you identify relevant problems and effective approaches. For example, if community members are aware of the importance of blood pressure control but don’t have access to medicines, a campaign to raise awareness may not be as effective as a program that improves access to medicines.
From a logistics standpoint, it is virtually impossible to do work internationally without a local partner who knows the lay of the land and the local culture.
One way to find such partners is to link up with a medical school or nonprofit organization in the country you want to work. The relationships you establish in this process will allow you to learn about a different culture and improve your cultural competency. This is a skill that med schools will value greatly.
Find a Good Mentor
As a premed student, you may not have the experience to design a global health project completely on your own. Finding someone knowledgeable who has worked internationally and is willing to mentor you is crucial. Ideally, this person works in the region where you want to work and has expertise on the health problem you want to solve.
To find a good mentor, start by looking at faculty in the medical school or public health school at your undergraduate institution or other universities in your region. Keep in mind that faculty in departments like economics, public policy or engineering may also be involved in global health projects.
[Read: Why Premeds Should Engage in Health Policy, Advocacy.]
Faculty members working in global health often will be involved in research projects in the regions they work. One way to get your foot in the door is to become involved in these projects.
If you do a good job, you may be able to take on a more active and autonomous role in the project over time. This is a great way to make a contribution to global health while also impressing medical school admissions committees.
Work Through an Organization
It is hard to make a meaningful contribution to any global health project alone. To succeed, you need to have a team of people who identify with the cause you want to solve and who are ready to work with you to solve it.
To gain credibility, it helps to work through an organization. You may set up a club on campus or establish a nonprofit organization. Registered U.S. nonprofit organizations can raise funds more easily because donations to a nonprofit organization are considered tax-deductible.
If setting up a nonprofit organization seems daunting, you can also pair up with an existing nonprofit organization that works on issues similar to the one you are trying to solve.
Come up With a Fundraising Scheme
Implementing any project requires funding. The first step in any fundraising plan is to come up with a budget. Start by devising a proposal mapping out all the different steps involved in implementing your project, taking into account the resources needed for each step and calculating costs for each of the resources.
[Read: 4 Skills Every Premed Student Should Develop Before Medical School]
With a solid proposal, you can apply for grant funding from organizations that donate to causes similar to yours. Grant writing is a valuable skill that can help you in your future career as a medical doctor. Medical schools will also be impressed with an applicant who has had this kind of experience.
Beyond grant writing, social media campaigns are also an effective way to raise money. You can post your cause on Facebook or Instagram or use online fundraising platforms like Kickstarter or GoFundMe.
As you work on implementing your project, it’s important to be humble and recognize that solving a health problem anywhere in the world requires a lot of time and effort. You may not be able to make a large contribution, especially in a short period of time. But in setting up a project, you can learn many valuable skills that will help you when you are applying to medical school and further along in your journey, as well.
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How Premed Students Can Set up a Global Health Project originally appeared on usnews.com
