We welcome businesses and organizations to participate at SDN. There are many ways to tap into the SDN community and help develop or maintain your brand. Here’s how!
How We’re Unique
SDN is a small volunteer nonprofit organization, supported entirely by donations and sponsorships. Since 1999, we’ve been building a vibrant and healthy student doctor community. There are many other communities out there, but SDN is unique. We’re the only health student community that offers established longevity, a small but experienced and responsive management team, and nonprofit independence.
A Quick History
We’re operated by the Health Professional Student Association, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, founded in 1983 by family medicine physicians. (Yes, we were founded by former hippies.) As an outgrowth of HPSA’s mission, The Student Doctor Network (SDN) was developed in 1999 as a grass-roots donor-supported service providing free advising resources, tools, and peer-support forums to those who would otherwise not have access to such services. HPSA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization.
How SDN Can Help Your Business or Organization
Whether you are the sole founder of a new advising service, or a representative of a major test prep corporation, SDN can help your business. With over 40M visits and 290M page views in 2020, SDN is the largest centralized resource for the prehealth and health student community. According to web traffic sites like SimilarWeb and Alexa, SDN is the only independent resource which offers this level of activity and interest.
We want to share SDN with you for free because we believe that when information is shared, everyone benefits. There are no costs or hidden fees to participate on SDN – membership is totally free for any size organization.
Forum Rules for Everyone
We want to encourage participation. We have three basic rules that apply to everyone:
- Treat others with kindness and respect.
- Tell the truth.
- Support each other and have fun!
Forum Rules for Businesses and Organizations
- You can participate in any thread in all areas of the forums as long as it is on-topic and appropriate for the conversation. For smaller or new organizations, this is your opportunity to establish your expertise and credibility! For larger organizations, it’s a great way to maintain brand identity and recognition.
- For example, if a student has a question about an admissions test, and Shari with “Super Test Prep” has an answer, she is welcome to answer it in the thread.
- However, Shari should not be answering the question to redirect the student to use “Super Test Prep” products or services. She also must stay on-topic with the thread — posting something that is not germane to the conversation is disruptive and will likely be removed by a volunteer moderator. Repeated violations may result in limitations in posting privileges.
- You can promote your organization’s products and services in these forums. There are no limits for vendors posting in these forums:
How to Join SDN
- Register
Every application for membership is reviewed by our volunteer team. This helps ensure our members are real people and have a stated purpose for being part of the community. This step reduces a lot of the usual nonsense inherent to the Internet.
Join by following this link to our forums registration page. (Will create a new tab.) - Use your organization’s name +/- representative name
As an example, if your name is Shari and operate “Super Test Prep, LLC” – register with the name “Super Test Prep.”
If you plan to have multiple representatives, you can either share a single account or create accounts for each individual. If you do share a single account, be sure to protect your password and understand that notification emails will only be sent to one email address.
If you want accounts for each individual (Shari and Ben), register as “Super Test Prep – Shari” and then create another account for “Super Test Prep – Ben.” - Reason for joining (IMPORTANT)
Enter your reason for joining. Please make it clear that you are representing a company or organization so that our volunteers can identify and set your account appropriately. This will ensure you are given special vendor permissions and access.
- Wait for approval
You will receive an email verification when your account is approved. Depending on the time of day and number of registrations, it may take a few minutes to a few hours before your registration is reviewed and approved. If there is a question regarding your account, someone may reach out to you from our staff. If for some reason your account is rejected, please contact us to review the issue.
- Add a signature
Add information about your business in your signature line. (Will create a new tab.)
Keep it short and sweet. Many vendors post a link to their site and a small logo. If you receive an error when attempting to create a signature, please contact us to review the issue. (Will create a new tab.) - Add an avatar
Upload an avatar for your account. (Will create a new tab.)
We recommend using your organization’s logo to establish and reinforce brand identity. However, some organizations prefer to use their employee photo as their avatar. Either way is fine. - Post a greeting in the Introductions Forum
Say hello to the community by posting in the introductions forum. (Will create a new tab.) This is your first opportunity to discuss your products or services.
- Congratulations, you’re now active!
Take a moment to ensure your account has the “Verified Vendor” tag (located under your username and avatar).
FAQ
Thank you for your generous support of our nonprofit mission! We have a few options for corporate donations. For smaller donations ($200 or below), use the SDN Forums donation option. For donations greater than $200, please submit larger donations here.
To sponsor a forum, please contact our sponsorship coordinator, Ms. Gregory.
Absolutely. If it is a simple issue, consider correcting the misinformation in the thread by using the “Reply” link. For something more significant, please notify a moderator by clicking the “Report” link at the bottom of the incorrect post.
If someone is posting inappropriately about your product or service, it is usually best to report them and let our volunteer moderators handle it. If you have additional concerns, please discuss them here. (This is a private discussion, only you and staff can see it.)