How one full webinar became a global healthcare community

Dr. Interested is built around helping youth enter career and policy spaces with the tools they need to succeed. Our first pillar is career education, especially for equity-deserving youth who may not have access to career exploration. The second is policy and research. We work with youth on recommendations, advocacy, conferences, and grants that help them participate. The third pillar is community, including our Discord and in-person events in Canada, the United States, and the Middle East.

We were founded around healthcare careers because many students say they want to be a doctor and stop there, even though there is so much more. Our career education explores those different paths. Our policy work often focuses on education or healthcare, and our research proposal competitions have also covered biology and neuroscience. At Toronto Climate Week, we focused on health careers emerging from climate change and its effects on physical, mental, and Indigenous health.

In Grade 9, I walked into a club and connected with a mentor who helped me with research and policy. I discovered that I loved laboratory and qualitative research. Later, friends at school were talking about careers, and many simply said doctor. At the time I was very specific about wanting to be a trauma surgeon. I realized people did not know how many paths existed. We held a first event about different careers, burnout, and mental health during exam season. The Google Meet filled completely, and the organization grew from there.

After the first webinar, we made an Instagram page and left it quiet for a while because of exams. When we returned, we studied established and youth-led organizations. They had websites, social presences, and teams, so we built that base with an executive team of about 10. Then we launched our second event, which really took off. The balance matters: do not stay in planning forever, but do not skip the foundation you will need if the work grows.

Part of the team came from my school and the IB program. Some friends were health-focused and all were thinking seriously about careers. Other executives came from online communities where I had mentored before. We asked Discord servers and Instagram pages to share the opportunity. Start with people nearby, even for a virtual organization. Being able to meet, plan, and film together helps at the beginning. Then use established online communities to reach talent elsewhere.

A larger conference invited us to run an event, and that external deadline pushed us. Give yourself a deadline. You do not need the perfect website, a blog, or a bigger team before starting. Build the basics and run the first event. It will reveal the pressure points you need to solve next. Our first was Google Meet, so we moved to Zoom for nonprofits.

Explore your own interests before starting an organization. Otherwise it becomes another extracurricular task you do because you have to. I spent about two years in policy and research, learning what I liked. Career education emerged from that experience. Find the overlap between what you genuinely care about and what your community needs. That intersection is where a useful organization can begin.

In the year that had just ended, we had about 160 executives, 200 ambassadors, and 20 podcast team members, close to 400 people. We had started around 10 and ended the first year around 40. A grant condition led us to accept every decent application, and our systems were not ready. Free marketing tools limited posts, website updates fell behind, and some people had nothing to do. Scale your systems before you scale people. We planned to reduce the next executive team to about 200 while strengthening the back end.

With about 10 people, nearly everyone directed a department and managed their own area. At a much larger size, executive assistants took charge of specific events. They told a director what was needed, the director scheduled the work, and deputy directors worked with their teams to make it. That hierarchy reduced the load at the top and let us run several events at once. Engagement also comes from what volunteers receive, such as service certifications, award nominations, and real opportunities to build relationships.

It is a mix of Instagram, newsletters, websites, search, and AI referrals. Instagram is the main channel for high school students, and we focus it in weekly campaign blocks so there is only one message at a time. The same content is reposted to other platforms. Our newsletter goes to nearly 6,000 parents, researchers, professors, and funders every two weeks. A strong website and SEO also matter because students increasingly search or ask AI tools for opportunities.

When you start, you want something free and easy to use. If you have nonprofit registration, monday.com offers a nonprofit account. Without registration, I recommend ConvertKit. It is simple, though deliverability can sometimes be lower. There are more established tools, but they cost more, so you can transition once funding is available.

Build it around something you are actually passionate about. An organization is meant to support the community, not a university application. Ask what you are truly helping and whether another organization already does it. Make the idea specific and local. Even if the issue is global, like climate change or education, solve the version that exists in your own community.

Find us on Instagram at dr.interested or visit our website. Those are the best places to learn about current events, opportunities, and ways to volunteer.