Health Care For All!
No, this blog is not political at all, but it sure got your attention. Whatever happens on capitol hill happens. Truth be told, if you were to give a student the option of reading the over 2000 pages of proposed legislation or taking 5 of the most boring lectures back to back, we’d choose the lectures. This blog’s purpose is to illustrate how our student health services excel at what they do everyday!
The Zerfoss student health center has become a kind of second home for me when I under the weather! Everything from seasonal allergies to the flu the doctors and nurses at the health center take care of students with attention and care. But in the case of an emergency they know what to do as well. Our health services are second to none here at Vanderbilt and all services rendered at the student health center to full time students are free except for medicine, which is provided at cost. If something is serious, the medical center is only a couple hundred feet away.
The university’s psychological resources in addition to the clinical medicine are often utilized by students. We have free learning disability consulting and counseling sessions both at the student health center and at the Psychological Counseling Center. As an RA, I can speak to the training the residential life staff receives and how effective it is at successfully recommending different courses of action to students who may be stressed or may be having difficulty acclimating to Vanderbilt. The ease and peace of mind associated with just knowing these resources are available is wonderfully calming.
However, due to the amazing preventative care that the student health center provides, very few students become ill. The flu season this year was very different than in previous years. It hit earlier and harder than int he past. However, the student health center worked in conjunction with the academic deans to provide a framework for students who felt under the weather due to the flu to miss class without penalty in the effort to curb the spread of the flu. The flu and H1N1 vaccines were provided for free to students and therefore, helped to curb the number of students who became ill.