Inspiring Future Healthcare Professionals

Recognizing that education is a health equity issue, SOS launched a separate education program with its own manager as a spin-off of our local work.

Now, SOS shrinks gaps in educational opportunity and healthcare access in urban and rural communities by helping to educate a new generation of compassionate healthcare workers. We do this by repurposing surplus medical items collected from local healthcare systems and using them to create hands-on, immersive, and standards-based medical career pathway programming targeted primarily to underserved students and low-income or housing-insecure adult learners– reaching over 40,000 students in Kentuckiana every year.  Our Education Program also supported the opening of three new medical career pathway schools in South and West Louisville and has partnered with the University of Louisville School of Medicine in creating Saturday “mini med schools” for students from underserved areas. 

SOS also inspires hundreds of student volunteers who come through our doors every year through our Global Citizenship and Healthcare Program. This program introduces young people to the hundreds of communities SOS serves and emphasizes the interconnectedness of all human beings– expanding their definition of the word “us.”   

Project-Based Learning: The Student-Built Container Clinic

In an incredible example of community collaboration and hands-on learning, SOS partnered with Madisonville North Hopkins High School on a container clinic project that will change lives in Liberia.

When teacher Brian Welch reached out to Education Manager Chanda Fowler with the dream of a student-built container clinic, SOS found a way to support his students in delivering health and hope to the other side of the world. We found a sponsor-- a close international partner and UPS connection who does humanitarian work in Liberia and would cover shipping costs. SOS provided all of the supplies and equipment needed to fully equip the clinic-- including Labor & Delivery bed-- and helped load it for its journey to an impoverished community where medical staff is waiting to get to work. This clinic built by students in rural Kentucky will transform the lives of thousands of people who have never had access to routine medical care. 

Our Educational Impact

49000

KY and IN students

87

KY high schools

18328

Post-secondary students

5 Ways To Partner With Our Education Program

Order Supplies

SOS provides medical supplies used in hands-on learning to allied health, HOSA, veterinary and agricultural science programs. Request supplies here.

Schedule A Field Trip

SOS welcomes hundreds of middle and high school students every year– for volunteer sessions that support allied health programs and global citizen experiences. Schedule here.

Schedule Student Volunteer Sessions

More than 1,000 high school and post-secondary nursing and medical school students a year and their teachers help us sort supplies going to those in need. Sign up for a three-hour session here.

Ask Us To Come To You

Classroom experiences for grades K-12 can be accommodated on a case-by-case basis.

Plan A Project

Our container clinic project is just one example of project-based learning. Students can also fund raise to pack and send custom boxes ($200) or pallets ($1500+) to domestic or international organizations of their choice.
Contact our Education Manager at Email our Education Manager at Chanda.Fowler@soshealthandhope.org to explore any of these opportunities. We look forward to working with you to inspire the next generation of humanitarians.

If You Are A Teacher Interested In Ordering Supplies

    SOS supplies bring allied health learning to life and help build real-world skills! You can click the “order supplies” button below or reach out to our Education Manager at Chanda.Fowler@soshealthandhope.org.
    Order Supplies >>

    Additional Resources For Teachers, Parents & Students

      Click for further information on health science academic standards, post-secondary education programs and opportunities, resources on global citizenship and health, ways to get involved, and more.
      Request Additional Resources >>