When you’re on campus tours, you’re likely to ask about the admissions process, housing and financial aid. But don’t forget about another important component of student life—the health services! When it comes to routine issues or emergencies, health services will be the go-to care provider for your child, the college student.
Three experts share their take on what you should ask about before your child attends college.
Dr. Carmen Burrell, Emergency and Family Medicine, Medical Director of WVU Student Health
Important questions Dr. Burrell would ask: 1) What services are offered? 2) Who provides the services?
A big university will often be associated with a large medical center. For that reason, the student health service will have access to physicians, as well as physician assistants and nurse practitioners. “We have physicians that have a true interest in adolescent and college health and really focus on the issues that affect that age group,” says Dr. Burrell.
At West Virginia University, Student Health is located near the dorms and stays open late because that’s how students seek care. “We found the students really didn’t utilize the services as much on the weekends,” Dr. Burrell says. For that reason, it’s open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. five days a week for student illnesses and injuries. “We always have a physician on duty, always have nursing and radiology tech for testing and imaging to be performed.”
Some of the staff are travel certified, which can be helpful for students studying abroad. The health service also has specialists who specialize in gynecology and LGBTQ areas. For mental health needs, it partners with WVU Healthy Minds and other organizations for psychological and psychiatric support.
WVU Student Health will see everything from COVID and flu to allergic reactions, migraines, gastroenteritis and more. “Students actually need more acute care than preventive care in their age group,” says Dr. Burrell. However, vaccines are available through the student health service as well.
Dr. Burrell recommends finding out as much as possible about your child’s university health insurance plan. For students staying on their parents’ plan, it can be helpful to let the insurance company know that the student will be living elsewhere so that care in that town can be approved preemptively.
Another thing to keep in mind: Students are now legal adults and have privacy protections. “I find a lot of parents are surprised when they’re unable to access their student’s health records, and that can be upsetting,” Dr. Burrell says. “A student can sign a medical consent. Of course, that’s up to them.”
Christine Polochak, MSN, CRNP, Director of Health and Wellness Services, Thiel College
An advantage to being small: the dorm room “house call.”
“If they’re sick, [the student] can email us, and we will go to them,” Polochak says. During the pandemic, the director of Thiel College’s Health and Wellness Services did this a lot for students who were in quarantine.
At a small college, however, the department is also small. “Health Services, at the moment, is staffed by me,” says Polochak, who
is a nurse practitioner. Student Health enjoys prominent visibility though, conveniently located across from the dining halls at Thiel.
The $250 annual fee for the services is paid with tuition. “We give free over-the-counter medications. We give free first aid supplies,” she says.
For gynecology, federally funded Adagio Health comes on site once a month to provide its women’s health services on a sliding scale basis, which for most students is free.
Polochak urges parents of students who will not yet be 18 when they matriculate to make sure the consent-to-treat forms are filled out. “You don’t want your child to get to college and not be able to get treatment.”
She adds that some students do have virtual visits with their hometown doctor, which has decreased some of the clinic volume. “Counseling, on the other hand, is just the opposite. We’ve definitely seen an increase in our counseling services.” Thiel has two full-time licensed counselors in the Wellness Center.
A question Polochak would ask: What does my child do in an emergency?
“When we’re not here, they’re instructed to contact public safety, and public safety will either give us a call or they will handle whatever the emergency is,” says Polochak, who usually refers out these cases. “Luckily, our hospital is about 2 miles from campus.”
Dr. Jill Grimes, Family Medicine, Author of “The Ultimate College Student Health Handbook”
When you’re on college tours, Dr. Jill Grimes says it’s fair game to ask your guide, “Have you or your roommates had any reason to use the student health service, and what was their experience?”
And she warns students to not wait until they desperately need help. Whether they have
physical or mental health problems, the outcomes can be worse when they reach crisis stage. “No doctor is upset to see a student that’s ‘not bad enough’,” she says.
Dr. Grimes has three nuggets of advice for parents of college students.
“A big challenge is ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder] meds. The vast majority of university health centers do not prescribe. They don’t handle that,” she says. Find out ahead of time if this is something that will need to be handled at home.
On a related note, she adds that when students go to college, telemedicine visits across state lines with their hometown doctor may not be allowed, so establishing local healthcare will be important.
She finds students are typically inexperienced when it comes to filling out the intake forms, from insurance particulars to medical details. She says, “Create a Google document, something [the whole family] can access.” On it, include immunization records, medications and doses, allergies, family medical history and insurance information.
“My pet peeve is parents telling their student, ‘You need to go in and get an antibiotic,’ or ‘You need to go in and get an x-ray,’ Dr. Grimes says. I’m all for parents encouraging their kids to go in, but not telling them what they’re gonna go get.”
Medical journalist Maria Simbra, MD, MPH, is the director and principal at Ironed Words Productions, LLC. Formerly, a medical reporter on Pittsburgh TV news, she is always writing, and always a mom.
