College is scary enough when you don’t have to worry about staying healthy. But for many undergraduates, it’s a completely new experience, medically speaking. College students don’t have to eat their broccoli anymore, unless they like it on their pizza. If they need someone to talk to, Mom and Dad may be in the next state over, not the next room. And in most cases, the pediatricians who’ve charted their health through childhood aren’t around either. Without someone to act in loco parentis, the prospect of college itself could make an incoming undergrad feel a little queasy.
Enter the student health center. Once little more than a dimly lit room with a few cots, the typical infirmary has been transformed. Especially at large universities, “student health centers can be truly all-encompassing,” says Nancy Allen, director of Michigan State University’s Healthy U and president of the American College Health Association. At most centers, doctors and nurses are trained to deal with undergraduates’ specific needs. Basic health care is covered by a small fee paid at the start of the year. Call to schedule an appointment and you’ll probably get one that day.
The medical staff, in theory, is specially attuned to help students. “In addition to basic technical background, we’re very aware of adolescent development,” says Allen. College health providers often have two goals: to take care of students while they’re in the office, and to make sure they can take care of themselves when they leave. “Part of our role as good practitioners is to facilitate the transition to adulthood,” says Dr. Alan Glass, director of student health and counseling at Washington University in St. Louis. In most cases, says Allen, that means a “holistic approach” works best. A student worried about STDs, for instance, can get far more than a test: most campuses offer stacks of pamphlets on staying sexually healthy, as well as routine reproductive exams and free barrier contraception.
Mental-health care presents its own challenges, and schools are scrambling to meet the need. Some schools have specialties–the University of Texas at Austin has an entire clinic devoted to travel medicine. Fitness centers offer an adjunct to various “wellness centers.” In all these ways, today’s campus infirmary is a far cry from the aspirin dispensary that your parents so fondly like to poke fun at.
