What do you know about the health care at your student's college?

[Miss Marple]

In light of some of the "college kid sick" threads, I was wondering how many of us are familiar with the options available to our kids when they find themselves sick at college.

 

I have only had one really bad episode with my oldest. He got the true flu several years ago. Temps running around 103 (I sent a thermometer with him along with other basic items :)), horrible coughing, etc. With his history of asthma, I was a bit of a basket case. He called me to tell me he wasn't getting better (after the usual 3 days of waiting) and I told him to go to the health center. The health center is incredible there! You can make appointments online or show up in the "emergency" room. They gave him a prescription for an antibiotic and off he went. He drove himself to Walgreens to get it filled.

 

During this time, he refused to stay in bed! He was in the middle of internship interviews and was not going to miss out on those opportunities. He alternated with Tylenol and Ibuprofen and bicycled all over campus in the freezing weather (I did not recommend this action :glare:) to go to interviews. He survived (but possibly prolonged the illness) and got an internship.

 

We knew what was available so when we needed it, we utilized it easily. This health center will even make arrangements if you cannot physically get to the center. It was a great relief to me to know what was available before we needed it.

 

Another thing I found that helps is to get to know our kids' roommates - at least just a little. And get their phone numbers. I would not hesitate to ask ds's roommate to take him somewhere. Ds would hesitate and the roommate would assume that if he wasn't asked, it wasn't needed.

 

Ours is a large state university. Do the smaller colleges offer the same service? Is the availability of health care something that you considered when looking at a college?

[JFSinIL]

CollegeMan's LAC is too small to have any health center - BUT 24 hours a day the office in charge of students will drive or have driven any student needing to get a a doctor or dentist appointment, the local Urgent Care, the local hospital, etc. So far CollegeMan has not needed to try these services.

[Jane in NC]

My son is at a small LAC. Doctors are on site daily but available by appointment only--or by nurses' discretion. Nurses are available 24/7.

 

Also 24/7 are a couple of self-evaluation stations. If a student needs a Bandaid, hydrocortisone cream, etc., they can help themselves to these products. Also available from the 24/7 Cold Care Center are decongestants, throat lozenges, salt for gargles, vitamin C, chicken soup ;), honey sticks :D, etc. Again, everything is free although they will accept a monetary donation from the student.

 

I know that they have some beds in the health center. My son has not had to use this service but reported on friends who did. One friend was there for physical illness, another for stress related issues.

 

I feel quite confident that should he become ill he would be in good hands.

[Brenda in MA]

When we were at the summer orientation session before freshman year at ds's college, we made a point of stopping by the health center so ds would know where it was and what services are available.

 

He's had to go there twice for bad colds/bronchitis. The second time, they sent him to the local hospital for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. He did have to get himself to the hospital, but it's only about a 2 block walk from campus. They followed-up with him afterwards and directed him what to do. They also contacted one professor because he had to miss a class.

 

The dining hall also has "meals to go" that you can take back to your room, or a friend can get for you. A couple of years ago during the swine flu scare, they had a few isolated dorm rooms they used for students who didn't live close enough to go home. Luckily, ds didn't get the swine flu.

 

I've also gotten the cell phone numbers of a couple of ds's friends who I feel I could call to do something for him or to check on him. Fortunately, I haven't need to use those. I also packed a "pharmacy" box that he took with him when he moved in. It's got the basic OTC meds that one would need if sick, and a thermometer.

 

Brenda

[Karen in CO]

My son's school doesn't have a health center, but he is required to have national health insurance. He also was provided with a list of English-speaking doctors that work with the students. I'm glad he has roommates and friends, but I know from the experience that it is nearly impossible to reach him if he isn't online. He hasn't been to a doctor while at school although I've told him he should go. He has taken his girlfriend to the doctor so I know he at least knows where to go if needed.

 

After his first semester in his own apartment, we made a first aid kit with a good supply of medicine with instructions about what to use when.

[Kareni]

My daughter's liberal arts college has a health center which has an atrocious reputation amongst the student body. Is it deserved? I have no idea but am hopeful that it is not.

 

When my daughter was doing a study abroad last semester in New Zealand, she emailed one day that her arm was swollen from her shoulder to her elbow. I recommended that she hie herself off to the health clinic which fortunately was still open for another 45 minutes that day. She was given a prescription for an antibiotic and all was well within four or five days. (My daughter, of course, was unaware of the stress level here at home -- particularly given that this occurred at the beginning of her spring break, there were no roommates around, and she had no telephone. I insisted that she send daily computer updates or risk having campus security arrive on her doorstep courtesy of a worried parent.) As a side benefit of this activity, she also learned how to fill out an insurance request for reimbursement. Illness as a learning experience.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[AK_Mom4]

DS20 has very good health care at the airforce academy - probably quite a bit better than he had when he was here at home!

 

Both of DD18's top choice colleges have a health center staffed 24x7 for students and offer low/no cost Rx for common scripts.

[Gwen in VA]

The colleges dh and I and my kids have all attended had health centers that were open 24/7, with doctors on call, etc. Naturally, I thought all colleges did this.

 

Since dd2 has type 1 diabetes, we are starting to scrutinize the health facilities at the colleges she is remotely considering. I am still dumbfounded that health centers that are open 24/7 seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

 

The norm seems to be a health center that is open for maybe ~30 hours per week that has a nurse and a doctor on call. During off-hours students are expected to go to the emergency room at the local hospital or dial 911.

 

I am still dreaming that the college that my dd attends will miraculously sprout a 24/7 health center, but honestly so few colleges seem to have this that I have given up hope that this will be an option for her. :confused:

[memphispeg]

I am hoping that dd attends college and never gets sick!!!???!!! We are touring soon so, I'll be sure to ask questions about this at each school.

[readwithem]

I am hoping that dd attends college and never gets sick!!!???!!! We are touring soon so, I'll be sure to ask questions about this at each school.

 

My dd has been extremely healthy in her (nearly) two years of college. She's gotten the occasional cold but hasn't missed a class for illness. She tries to stay on top of sleep, exercise, eating right, etc. and I think that helps.

[TravelingChris]

I was looking into this with my second and will also do this with my third. I think my first got a lot worse because of the medical situation where he was.