Graduate students are being pulled in tons of different directions, so it’s especially important to be deliberate and efficient with everything your Med Students for Life group does. Recruiting more pro-life med students to your group is crucial to expanding the impact the group can have.
The Quickest, Easiest Way to Recruit
Flyering is an easy way for a lot of people to hear about your group and get them interested. This is a great way to get students’ attention days before a tabling or other event. Flyers don’t have to have all the information you want people to know on them; in fact, the less they need to read, the better.
You want your flyers to be cool and eye catching, but also contain a call to action. When flyering for recruitment, the content should include something along the lines of, “Are you pro-life? Join Med Students for Life at our next meeting!” It’s up to you what else you’d like to include. Keep in mind, if you include an email or phone number, you’re going to get hate mail from angry people who would rather lash out from afar than converse with you.
When flyering your campus, placement will be vital. Of course you know your school best, so place the flyers where you know people will see them. Here are some popular places:
- Library (Not just at the front door with all the other flyers, but in every room, floor, and cubicle.)
- Cafeteria
- Student Union
- Classrooms (On the back of lecture chairs, on desks, and on doors)
- Coffee shops
- Mailboxes (Ask school if you could send a half sheet invite to every student through the mail box)
Flyering can be done very quickly if the whole group gets together and takes a different section of the campus. Cover the campus completely (you’ll need to brainstorm about how many you’ll need to print to accomplish this. Usually, the administrative body that approves flyering can tell you how many it takes to cover your campus).
In the early morning before most students are around campus is a great time to flyer. Get your coffee and get going! Don’t be discouraged if your flyers get ripped down or otherwise vandalized; it’s going to happen. Let us know if you need help taking action in defense of your free speech rights. Be persistent with re-hanging them – see who’s the most stubborn… you or the vandal!
Bonus Tips
- Tell your friends about what you do, get them engaged.
- Keep contact names, emails, and phone numbers. Keep your members posted on upcoming events and meetings.
- Keep connected with other organizations, such as Catholic Medical Association or Christian Medical and Dental Association, that may share similar convictions as you, and see if their members would like to join the Medical Students for Life group, or begin Bioethics Committees within their existing groups supported by Medical Students for Life.