A medical training program for orphans was started 2-years ago. Bramuel presented this idea to the hospital board members and they sat together to try and determine an appropriate budget to start the program. They found that they would not be able to realistically manage it if they took too many students, so they decided to start with 3 with the requirement that the student must be orphaned-without both parents.

In 2007, they began recruiting for this program and were able to find 3 students, who graduated and are now working in local hospitals at Patient Assistants. In 2008, they recruited another 3 students. These students will finish their studies on January 30, 2009.

Through this experience, they have found that the cost per student is $15/mo. This covers their education materials, breakfast and lunch. In 2009, they were hoping to have enough funds to recruit 10 students, but unfortunately they do not have enough money to support that. They recently accepted new applications for a new class and received over 40 applicants. They know there is much interest in the local community based on this response. Unfortunately due to lack of funding, they will only be able to accept 3 students again this year. After finishing the course, they provide follow-up with them until they gain FT employment.

The hospital would love to make this a more sustainable program and are interested in obtaining ideas on how to do that. They are looking for organizations that may be able to provide funding, or sponsors willing to donate $15/mo. for 1-year so that they could then increase the number of students. Micro-finance has also been considered as a possible option.

For this task we are looking for suggestions as to how this might be restructured in a way that would allow for the costs to be covered so that the program can be expanded.