WHAT WE DO
The aim of Medic to Medic is to guarantee the tuition fees for healthcare students who have academic potential, but are in financial need in Africa. With this consistency of income, students are able to focus on their studies until graduation.
Our largest community of students are in Malawi where at any one time we provide support to between 80-100 students. Medic to Medic scholarships support each students tuition fees, a once a semester allowance and provide medical equipment and books so that students have everything they need to successfully qualify as a health worker in their home country.
We match student health workers to regular donors. Donations are pooled so that we can maximise our spread of supporting as many students as possible without relying on one individual to support one student. Thanks to overwhelming success of donations provided by Healthcare professionals (hence “Medic to Medic”) we have expanded our market to facilitate much needed and heartfelt support from the public too. Students send updates on their progress once a semester. These student reports demonstrate how scholarships are life changing and raises awareness of the conditions facing medical colleagues worldwide.
Medic to Medic has expanded from sponsoring only medical students to a large number of other trainee health professionals including nurse/midwives, physiotherapists, pharmacists, clinical officers, mental health workers, audiologists, optometrists and radiographers (to name just a few!).
In recent years we have noticed the unique challenges posed to trainee health workers on their mental well being. We are developing holistic supports to provide mentorship and counselling when a student may be struggling. This wrap around support ensures students are more likely to successfully pass their exams.
HEALTH WORKERS
We aim to support trainee healthcare workers throughout their education, so that they can perform to the best of their ability. We want to add to the absolute numbers of health workers in training, in order that there are more graduates in countries with critical shortages.
EQUITY & ACCESS
We target those who are under represented in the health professions, such as women or those from rural areas. We want to increase the numbers of health workers working in rural areas, so that everyone has equal access to healthcare.
AWARENESS
We hope to raise awareness of the different conditions facing health professionals worldwide and an appreciation of the global health community.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
We support our student community to gain leadership and empowerment skills through small scale, locally led projects related to health and wellbeing
Medic to Medic was set up in 2007 by Kate Mandeville, a British doctor. Kate was born in Malawi when her father was working as an engineer. On visiting Malawi years later, she was struck by the scarcity of doctors in the mission hospital where she was born. She went on to visit the one medical school in Malawi, where the staff told her how disadvantaged but able students were struggling to get through the course due to lack of funds. Many of these students spent their spare time trying to find extra funding rather than focusing on their studies.
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On her return, Kate decided to set up a scheme where UK health professionals would make small donations to support trainee health workers in Africa. This would give consistency of funding for students, who could then concentrate on their studies. It would also provide a more focused option for health professionals or those interested in healthcare training overseas.
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Medic to Medic was initially part of the International Medical Education Trust 2000 (IMET2000), a charity dedicated to provide high-curriculum medical education globally. Here it grew for 5 years before branching off in November 2012 as it's own UK registered charity, 1149904. In July 2020 Medic to Medic became a registered charity in New Zealand and in December 2021, Medic to Medic also became registered in Malawi.
