EMPOWERING VOLUNTEERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

MEDAL is dedicated to supporting healthcare professionals in their goals to achieve proficiency in the English language, build excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and enhance their medical expertise on a global scale. By bridging linguistic and cultural barriers in healthcare, we help medical professionals provide exceptional patient care to English-speaking communities. Our team is committed to empowering doctors worldwide to reach their full potential,

collaborate internationally, and make a lasting impact

on the field of medicine!

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ABOUT MEDAL

We empower volunteers to make a difference in the lives of international medical students and doctors by facilitating language assistance and cultural exchange programs. Our goal is to enhance the quality of healthcare worldwide and promote cross-cultural understanding.

Founded in 2023, Medical Education and Learning (MEDAL) is a new organization on campus! Currently, we are partnered with a Vietnamese organization (VietMD) of physicians and medical students who want to improve their English proficiency! Our partner organization and the U.S. Embassy are responsible for bringing in enthusiastic students while MEDAL provides competent and dedicated Teaching Assistants.

Our courses run twice a year and run throughout the summer. 1.5 hour Zoom meetings are held every week. We understand that as students coming to every session is an unreasonable demand, which is why general members are only required to come to 5 sessions per quarter!

During the course, our TAs are expected to facilitate activities such as listening comprehension exercises, helping students take a medical history in English, correcting grammar and pronunciation mistakes, giving guidance on what is and what is not perceived as appropriate culturally, and practicing scenarios. Attendance to each 1.5-hour Zoom session will convert to 3 hours in service hours and will be cataloged by our administrative staff throughout the quarter.

Don’t worry if this task seems daunting! TAs are provided a easy-to-follow guide worksheet every session. In addition, we provide new members with a few short training sessions to integrate them into our program.

General Member Form

Sign up for emails about our info session dates and other events!

FALL TIMELINE

Jan 31th

The course officially begins and members can begin volunteering as Teaching Assistants.

WEEK 4-10

WEEK 0

Catch us at the Enormous Activities Fair with directions from our Instagram stories.

Accepted applicants will attend an online training session and will all be invited to an in-person social by the end of Week 6.

WEEK 2

Introduction time! Our info session will be held over Zoom where you'll get to know more about MEDAL and receive the QR code to our member application.

Timeline

Meet the team

Meet the Team

Welcome to our amazing team! We are a group of passionate individuals who are dedicated to making a positive impact in our community. Together, we work towards creating a better organization for everyone. Get to know our team members below!

President

Vanessa Tran

During high school, I was a part of S4S English, which allowed me to act as a tutor to help Vietnamese high school students learn English. During COVID, it was a way for me to be social and learn at the same time. I made many friends and developed my teaching and interpersonal skills! Now in university, through MEDAL I hope to connect with others who share my interest in the healthcare field, especially those who can offer a fresh perspective, and continue my mission of teaching others while developing my own skills.

Vice President

Phi Le

MEDAL presented itself as an opportunity for me to make a meaningful contribution to global healthcare, a cause that resonates deeply with my immigrant roots. The flexibility of online synchronous volunteering seamlessly accommodates my scholarly research and part-time commitments beyond the classroom. Engaging with international physicians through MEDAL has proven to be the most enriching aspect of this program. I hope you find these premises just as exciting and try out MEDAL!

Secretary

James Pham

I decided to join MEDAL in order to gain more experience with interacting with medical professionals from a variety of cultural backgrounds. I wanted to find a way to involve myself in a way that would benefit these individuals, which I am able to do through teaching English in order to lower international language barriers between patients and providers. Additionally, joining MEDAL gives me the opportunity to improve my public speaking and leadership abilities while working with such groups of medical professionals.

Training & Recruitment Coordinator

Viviana Hsiao

I joined MEDAL because I wanted to help make a positive impact on doctors overseas! As a pre-med, it also offers me the opportunity to learn more medical terminology and gives me more insight into how doctors interact with their patients on a daily basis.

Education Coordinator

Brandon Pham

I wanted to explore and research more into the medical field by being a part of the teaching opportunities MEDAL offers. In addition to the exposure to medical terminology and procedures, I also get to interact with doctors from the teaching sessions, gaining insight into the medical profession and reinforcing my passion for my potential future career. MEDAL allows me to use the skills that I have developed to give back to the community and help doctors effectively communicate with their patients in English thereby allowing for better patient care and treatments.

Education Coordinator

Ashley Cao

To me, MEDAL serves as an amazing opportunity to form meaningful connections with students who share the same passion to pursue medicine as me! It is an honor every session to be able to help students in Vietnam gauge English terminology on their journey to become the best providers they can be. I am always learning more about how to become a more culturally competent educator and future provider as I work with these students who are also looking to achieve the same goals. As someone raised in the Vietnamese community, it is meaningful for me to learn more about medicine/medical terminology in Vietnamese as I teach our students.

Education Coordinator

Kaylee Hsieh

I joined MEDAL to pursue my interests for both healthcare and community service by assisting international medical students. Additionally, the collaborative work we do covers my passion in public health as bridging these language barriers helps diversify the medical field. The program overall has been incredibly rewarding thus far and I would recommend it to anyone who has any interest at all!

Outreach Coordinator

Ethan Huang

As a Global Health minor, I’ve always been very active in broadening the scope of healthcare to focus on the people involved. To me, healthcare is all about the people, whether as providers or as patients. When I heard about MEDAL UCLA, I realized that it fit my goals perfectly, allowing me to interact with medical professionals in Vietnam while doing real service to advance healthcare globally. It also helps that my peers are a fantastic, active group of people! I highly recommend MEDAL!

Publicity Coordinator

Michelle Lim

I was drawn to MEDAL's mission of bridging cultural gaps in healthcare. Joining MEDAL offered me insight into the medical professionals' side of things, and the unique challenges faced by them. MEDAL has given me incredible opportunities to connect with people from different cultures, learning directly from their experiences. It’s a chance to really contribute to a community and use my skills for a greater purpose, helping bring diverse communities together.