One benefit of Global links model for their program is that they are able to reduce waste in the US while also helping people in need in developing nations. By donating unused medical supplies that would otherwise be thrown away, they are preventing a lot of waste from entering US landfills in the Pittsburgh area. On the other hand, one limitation to their business model is that they rely on donations of medical supplies from large medical practices. If these practices ever decided they wanted to do something with their old medical supplies, Global Links would have a big issue finding the supplies they need. 

The organization’s commitment to using surplus from the US healthcare system creates opportunities because they are able to get a lot of good supplies for free. For instance, for surgeries in the US, the room is prepped with three times the supplies they expect to use. If the surgery goes well, none of the extra supplies are used. So, Global Links gets them for free. However, using surplus could create some challenges if they start receiving a lot of one type of medical device, but not a lot of another. If that happens, they will have trouble providing good medical devices to the third-world countries they help. 

From a finance perspective, I’m not sure that doing an internship with a nonprofit would be the best thing for me. However, I think that it would be a very valuable and rewarding experience knowing that I’m working for a company that is doing good work that actually helps people. So, I definitely have interest in doing an unpaid internship with a nonprofit if I find the right one.