Pharmacist Involvement in Medical Missions
Collaborating with an organization dedicated to medical mission trips facilitates the planning and fundraising process and enhances the mission experience. A list of various opportunities classified by profession, practice specialty, region, and country can be found at the website of Medicalmissions.org. Networking at one of the many mission conferences offered throughout the year is a good way to meet representatives of various mission organizations around the world. One such conference that several faculty members and students from the Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy traditionally attend is the Global Missions Health Conference, which aims to inform, train, and equip health care professionals and students to use their medical skills to help people in need both internationally and domestically. Another meeting, the National Short-Term Missions Conference, is designed to prepare and equip health care practitioners to engage in "indigenously focused" missionary endeavors. At one meeting several years ago, faculty members at our school were introduced to missionaries from Operation Mobilisation Africa through an alumnus, which led to a medical mission trip to Mpulungu, Zambia. Other faculty members have connected with Central and South American missionaries at such conferences and established relationships lasting many years.
Once collaborations are established and the scope of the school of pharmacy's involvement is defined, faculty and students can begin planning the trip. However, before planning begins in earnest, it is important to seek formal institutional approval, for several reasons: liability concerns, matters related to the distribution and accounting of funds, faculty workload issues, and challenges with the scheduling of the usual campus-based student practice experiences.
To obtain financial support for a medical mission trip, a good first step is to make a list of individuals and organizations to target for fundraising efforts. Potential sponsors to recruit include benefactors, churches, relatives, friends, colleagues, alumni, and nearby pharmacies and hospitals. The list of prospective sponsors should be prioritized (top 10, second 10, and so on) to guide and focus recruitment efforts; in our experience, the top 10 donors usually provide about two thirds of the funding needed. The fundraising team should decide on the best way to contact each person on the top-10 list (and others as time permits) and the amount of the gifts to be requested. One way to make contact and secure funding is to arrange a face-to-face presentation; another option is an initial phone call followed by an information letter with a response card and pre- addressed return envelope, perhaps with a follow-up phone call if the recipient does not respond within a specified time frame. Other fundraising options are car washes, lunch sales or other food sales, and requests for support from pharmaceutical fraternities.
Planning and Fundraising
Collaborating with an organization dedicated to medical mission trips facilitates the planning and fundraising process and enhances the mission experience. A list of various opportunities classified by profession, practice specialty, region, and country can be found at the website of Medicalmissions.org. Networking at one of the many mission conferences offered throughout the year is a good way to meet representatives of various mission organizations around the world. One such conference that several faculty members and students from the Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy traditionally attend is the Global Missions Health Conference, which aims to inform, train, and equip health care professionals and students to use their medical skills to help people in need both internationally and domestically. Another meeting, the National Short-Term Missions Conference, is designed to prepare and equip health care practitioners to engage in "indigenously focused" missionary endeavors. At one meeting several years ago, faculty members at our school were introduced to missionaries from Operation Mobilisation Africa through an alumnus, which led to a medical mission trip to Mpulungu, Zambia. Other faculty members have connected with Central and South American missionaries at such conferences and established relationships lasting many years.
Once collaborations are established and the scope of the school of pharmacy's involvement is defined, faculty and students can begin planning the trip. However, before planning begins in earnest, it is important to seek formal institutional approval, for several reasons: liability concerns, matters related to the distribution and accounting of funds, faculty workload issues, and challenges with the scheduling of the usual campus-based student practice experiences.
To obtain financial support for a medical mission trip, a good first step is to make a list of individuals and organizations to target for fundraising efforts. Potential sponsors to recruit include benefactors, churches, relatives, friends, colleagues, alumni, and nearby pharmacies and hospitals. The list of prospective sponsors should be prioritized (top 10, second 10, and so on) to guide and focus recruitment efforts; in our experience, the top 10 donors usually provide about two thirds of the funding needed. The fundraising team should decide on the best way to contact each person on the top-10 list (and others as time permits) and the amount of the gifts to be requested. One way to make contact and secure funding is to arrange a face-to-face presentation; another option is an initial phone call followed by an information letter with a response card and pre- addressed return envelope, perhaps with a follow-up phone call if the recipient does not respond within a specified time frame. Other fundraising options are car washes, lunch sales or other food sales, and requests for support from pharmaceutical fraternities.