Make a Medic is a charity created by Dr Lasith Ranasinghe, that is run by a group of UK-based medical students and junior doctors. They recognise that the theory of medicine is universal, however, the resources available to medical students in less privileged parts of the world are scarce. Make a Medic’s main goal is to run projects that facilitate the education of these medical students so that they are better able to attend to the health needs of their wider community.
Their previous and ongoing projects include sending a shipment of several hundred textbooks to Sri Lanka, sponsoring a vaccination training programme in Uganda and donating stethoscopes to Kenya and Zambia.
They have also recently established a sponsorship programme with the East African Centre for Vaccines and Immunology with the aim of funding the training of Ugandan Medical Students to deliver vaccines in rural parts of Uganda.
Funds from the Matthew Good Foundation will go towards Improving Maternal Health in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. With The Welbodi Partnership, Make a Medic hopes to help implement two projects:
- Facilitating the rollout of CRADLE Vital Signs Alert Devices. This is a mobile blood pressure device that identifies women at high risk of birth-related complications. Its design is ideal for use in developing countries.
- Supporting a mentorship scheme to tackle high rates of teenage pregnancy by providing support to reach antenatal care and help prepare for the baby.
Make a Medic’s long-term plan to generate a sustainable income is to produce medical educational resources and run courses at affordable prices for UK medical students, and the proceeds will be used to fund medical education and public health initiatives in developing countries.
“I am incredibly humbled to be shortlisted for this funding opportunity. As a small scale charity run solely by volunteers, the gifting of even a small amount of money can go a very long way. We’re currently in the process of developing a medical resource component to our website which will be our primary source of income once launched. This does, however, mean that we will encounter a prolonged period of time during which we are focusing on resource development rather than fundraising initiatives. This funding will have a profound knock on effect that will enable us to implement our latest project and make a difference to mothers and babies in Sierra Leone. Thank you very much for this opportunity.”
“It was a pleasure to meet Lasith and find out more about Make a Medic. Lasith told me that in the UK, people are privileged to work as medics where we have the power of funding our education and professional development. However, colleagues in other parts of the world are not as fortunate, some medical students don’t even have access to a stethoscope. Lasith’s vision for Make a Medic is to help people become medics in developing countries and as a result improve outcomes for their communities. Lasith’s innovative plan of securing a sustainable income for the charity gives me confidence that Make a Medic will go on to make a huge impact.”
Latest Project Updates
April 2022
Granted £2,000
After becoming one of the top five finalists in the latest Grants for Good Round, £2,000 was granted.