SHARE benefits everyone. Students obtain a positive volunteer experience and knowledge of medical equipment, hospitals reduce their carbon footprint and waste elimination costs, and most importantly, patients in developing countries can receive the medical treatment they need.
Our Presidents are available to help with the founding, building, and maintaining of a chapter. If you have any questions about the chapter start-up process, get in touch with the Undergraduate Division here.
How to Start a Chapter
Step 1. Contact a physician
The best first step is to contact a doctor or other medical professional in the hospital. Preferably, this person should be involved in surgery rather than other medical specialties, since a much higher volume of supplies would be obtained from the operating rooms than from clinics. They should also have the authority to communicate the SHARE system to the team, particularly to the OR nurses.
Step 2. Assemble a team to collect and sort supplies
During surgeries, nurses and doctors place equipment in specially designated bins in the ORs, which are lined with plastic bags to make collection easier. Medical students regularly round on the ORs to pick up the supplies from the bins. The medical students bring the supplies from the ORs to the SHARE room on a rolling cart and drop the bags of supplies off in the room for sorting at a later date. Undergraduates and medical students both sort through the supplies, organizing by type and use.
Step 3. Recruit Members and apply for funding
Some ways to advertise SHARE to potential members include through the university pre-health advising, social networking platforms, flyers on campus, and word of mouth. Also, establish requirements for membership and secure funding from your university.
Step 4. Reserve a room for sorting
Try contacting the lead of the facilities department concerning available spaces on the hospital’s campus to sort. The room can also contain a desktop computer so that volunteers can update the log of donated equipment and track their volunteer hours.
Step 5. Partner with an organization to pick up and deliver the supplies
Collaborate with non-profit organizations, clinics, hospitals, or clubs on campus to distribute the supplies locally and globally.
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