Organizations to explore at UF

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Written by: Isabella Mark

Position, Member Since: Vice President, joined Fall 2022

Major & Track: Behavioral Neuroscience

Current Year: 3rd Year

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The University of Florida is home to over 900 student organizations. First getting your footing here can definitely be overwhelming! If you are here, you have found the undergraduate American Medical Women’s Association, and of course, I am going to recommend you learn more about uAMWA and join us in supporting women in health care. There are many posts on this blog discussing why members love uAWMA which I highly recommend looking over if you aren’t already hooked :) 

Here, I wanted to highlight other organizations at UF that I had wished I learned more about when I first arrived at UF. This is in no means a comprehensive list. However, it is a good start.

Shands Volunteering: 

Pediatrics – Footprints, Dream team, ChildLife 

Footprints and Dreamteam are student led initiatives that work through volunteering, advocacy, 

and community engagement. ChildLife is based in the volunteer services and is less of a club organization and works more as a traditional hospital volunteer – on the unit, ChildLife is very similar to Footprints and Dreamteam. The missions are to enhance the pediatric healthcare experience by providing support and companionship. 

Young adult to adult – Streetlight 

Streetlight works to enhance the well-being and comfort of patients undergoing medical treatment 

at Shands.

Elderly – Solace 

Through volunteer efforts, such as conversation and reading sessions, Solace aims to enhance the 

well-being of elderly patients during their hospital stay. By offering emotional support and companionship, Solace contributes to creating a comforting environment for elderly patients receiving medical care. 

Hospital wide – Hospitaliteam 

Works across all 3 towers at Shands offering personal care and leisure items from their

Hospitality Cart and spending 1-on-1 time with patients. 

Community Health: 

Equal Access Clinic – 

Student-run free healthcare clinics working to provide free care and services to underserved populations in Gainesville, FL. The system was started by medical students and consists of a network of health professionals and students. 

Mobile Outreach Clinic – 

Work to reduce health disparities by providing best practice, flexible, low-barrier primary care at no cost to patients unable to access the healthcare system. Volunteers can work in the office and on the mobile clinic. 

Gator Emergency Medical Response Unit – 

Respond to EMS on UF campus. They are often on scene prior to police involvement.

Abroad: 

Global Health Brigades  

Medlife 

In the U.S.:

Gators at Remote Area Medical 

Hopefully, this list offers a good place to start and learn more about healthcare and how you can help. There are an extensive number of health focused organizations at UF, but the major ones were listed here. Good luck!