One benefit of the model for Global Link’s program is they use a large network of volunteers, and so they don’t have to pay a ton of employees to sort and organize the many medical devices that they have received. With lower overheads, they can operate more efficiently and have each dollar they get go farther towards their mission. One limitation is their sustenance relies on hospitals and other organizations continuing to donate to them. If policy were to change in America and these devices could start to be reused, the donation supply would drop massively for Global Links. 

An opportunity for their model of using surplus medical supplies is that because of the current American healthcare system, many items are being wasted that shouldn’t be. This is a model that can be scaled nationwide and is a promising way to sustainably support developing countries with little cost to the hospitals. Global Links must have warehouses present in any location they operate in, and thus a challenge is having the manpower and the volunteer power to sustain their efforts in the various locations they could expand to. While scaling might be possible, it would require great effort to coordinate the volunteers, participating hospitals and other organizations, and any shipping efforts between Global Links locations that would want to share materials. 

With a stipend like the Tafel scholarship, doing an unpaid internship becomes more of a reality during my time at Pitt. With a major like business analytics, a company has to be properly set up to collect data in order for analytics to become relevant. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to working outside of my field in order to get professional experience doing a variety of different things. Internships seem so far away at the moment, and I plan on evaluating opportunities as I find them, including the pay structures that may be associated.