Actually, I think medical students would be one of the worst groups to try to get involved with anything. They have very few contributable skills and very little free time. Helping out various NGOs in undefined ways piecemeal doesn't scale and isn't sustainable.
If you're serious about this, work on what's known as an "elevator pitch". How can you describe your organization and what it does in 2 sentences that you can say within 20 seconds that clearly describes your goals and methods?
This is easy to do with MSF, Amnesty, Greenpeace and any solid nonprof. Can you do it with yours?
Again, I admire the passion. But charities involve so much wasted overhead and redundant efforts that there is a very good argument for folks with passion to lend their time and energy to established organizations that are doing good work. The only ethical reason to take people's time and money is if there is a newly identified, specific mission that has not been met. If your organization is not doing this, it is actually prohibiting good works.
I see what you are saying, but from my experience I have seen that there are many medical school students that feel very passionate about certain issues. They would act, but more leadership is needed to offer opportunities and bring those looking for an opportunity with those in need of service.
There are 143 medical schools, each with 400 to 800 students, and the students are not busy all the time. Most have some free time, and what I am proposing is that we tap into this resource. If each student can give one hour a week, we can coordinate our efforts and supply an additional organized volunteer force that can make a substantial difference. Your point about not duplicating efforts is well made and well taken, and this is preciously whey I believe that this organization would do very well; i.e. because this is something that has not been done before.
With medical students you have a very hard-working, committed group of individuals who I believe have plenty to offer (as a whole, medical school students, I believe, could offer more then most other bodies of students they all certainly share diverse experiences and bring different things to the table. They will become doctors with a specific career, but many have things to offer now it could be as simple as teaching math to children in underserved areas or having fundraising programs for specific causes). So you would actually expose many individuals to service, that were not previously being exposed to such a coordinated effort.
Many medical school students are very busy, and yet they find time to volunteer at their local shelter, have fundraiser, or collect shoes for children in Africa. Actually, at MSU, where I will be starting medical school this summer, there is a huge volunteer effort that does many of the things I just mentioned.
Because building this infrastructure will led to many, many years of service, I would not consider this time a waste at all. Actually, I see it as an investment in the future. A future where medical students are volunteering to bring about change. And, perhaps equally important, is the values this organization will instill in the next generation of medical professionals. The students who participate will be more in tune with those in need, and can forge the spirit of service to the local and global community more strongly at an earlier age.
I would say that we are a collation of medical school students looking to assist those in need, at home and abroad, through various small-scale, community-based efforts. I would also say that our efforts are not limited to geopolitical constraints and ideologies.
Although I understand what you are saying, I think not following this through would leave a huge, capable population of individuals without having a direct opportunity to volunteer. The alternative would be to hope that some volunteer; but many will not if an opportunity is not at their doorstep. All that I am trying to do is to bring this opportunity to each medical students proverbial doorstep.
