Our goals
These goals guide how we spend our time and our funding. We have written them plainly so that students, advisors, and donors can see exactly what we are trying to do and hold us to it.
Five goals
- 01
Open chapters where students have no project-based option
Many schools have students who are interested in medicine and no organized way for them to work on it. We want to reach those schools and give one motivated student what they need to start a chapter there.
- 02
Make sure every member finishes a project
We judge a chapter by its finished work rather than its attendance, so we ask each member to end the year with a project that can be demonstrated, submitted, or reported, along with a record of what they contributed to it.
- 03
Keep cost from deciding who takes part
Materials, hardware, and entry fees can quietly limit which students participate, so we cover those costs through chapter micro-grants wherever we are able to.
- 04
Connect students with experienced mentors
Student projects improve quickly with good feedback, so we pair teams with researchers, physicians, and graduate students who can review their methods and point out problems early.
- 05
Build chapters that outlast their founders
Student clubs often fade once their founders graduate, so every chapter receives governing documents and transition materials that make it easier to hand leadership to the next group of students.
Focus areas
Members choose the problem they want to address, and the focus area decides what a finished project should look like. Whatever the area, the work has to exist in a form that someone outside the club can see.
Tuesday
Today’s doses
Morning dose
8:00 AM
- Due soon
Midday dose
12:30 PM
Evening dose
7:00 PM
01 · Focus area
Technology
For members who want to design and build the tools themselves.
Technology teams take a specific problem in health and build something that addresses it, using software, hardware, machine learning, or the data systems that help a clinic or program run. No prior experience is required, since many members learn the tools while building their first project.
Example projects
- A medication reminder app designed for older patients
- A low-cost sensor for measuring posture or tremor
- A tool that explains test results in plain language
- A data dashboard for a local health nonprofit
What finished looks like
A working product that has been deployed, documented, and shown at the showcase.
Manuscript · Draft 3
Sleep duration and perceived stress among high school students: a cross-sectional survey
Chapter research team
Abstract
Submitted for review
02 · Focus area
Research
For members who are drawn to the science and the evidence behind it.
Research teams design original studies or write structured literature reviews with guidance from mentors who do research professionally. Members learn to frame a question, review the existing evidence, collect and analyze data, and write up their findings to an academic standard.
Example projects
- A survey study of health habits among teenagers
- A systematic review of a treatment or intervention
- An analysis of a publicly available health dataset
- A paper prepared for a student journal or conference
What finished looks like
A paper that has been submitted to a journal, conference, or symposium.
Competition entry
Measuring hand tremor with a phone’s motion sensor
- Project abstract
- Prototype demonstration
- Judging presentation
03 · Focus area
Competition
For members who do their best work against a deadline and an outside judge.
Competition teams prepare work for the science fairs and competitions where student projects in health are judged, including regional and state science fairs, the Conrad Challenge, HOSA competitive events, BioGENEius, and Synopsys. We cover registration costs and help teams prepare their submissions and presentations.
Example projects
- A Conrad Challenge entry in a health category
- A team entering HOSA competitive events
- A science fair project advancing to the state level
- A biotechnology research submission to BioGENEius
What finished looks like
An entry that was submitted and judged, with feedback the team can use the following season.
Community program
Health literacy workshops
With a partner public library
- 01Reading a nutrition label
- 02Understanding a prescription
- 03Finding low-cost care nearby
- 04Questions to ask a doctor
3 of 4 sessions held
04 · Focus area
Community health
For members who want their work to reach people in their own community.
Community health teams design and run programs where they live, such as education workshops, patient support efforts, and work that improves access to care. These projects are judged by the people they reached and the difference they made for them.
Example projects
- A health literacy workshop series for younger students
- A companionship program run with a local care home
- A blood drive or health screening event
- A guide connecting families to low-cost care nearby
What finished looks like
A program that ran, with a partner organization, documented participants, and results the chapter can report.
How we measure progress
Attendance is easy to count but says little about whether a chapter is working, so these are the measures we track and share with advisors and donors.
- Project completion
- The share of members who finish the year with a documented project rather than partial work.
- External submissions
- Papers, competition entries, and applications sent to organizations outside the school.
- People served
- Participants reached by community health programs, counted directly rather than estimated.
- Chapter continuity
- Whether a chapter hands leadership to new students and keeps running after its founders graduate.
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