As winter approaches and colds and flus abound, students might find themselves making the trek to Health Services, located at 124 Professors Row, more frequently. But are they leaving happy?
The Tufts University Health Service offers students not only general health appointments, but also gynecological, chiropractic, and mental health services. It also runs an allergy clinic for students taking allergy shots and an Alcohol and Drug Prevention Program.
Senior Stephen Rawlings said he has had multiple good experiences with Health Services. "During my freshman year, I was seriously ill, and they had to use IV fluids. They were really nice to me. I thought that they did a great job," he said.
Rawlings was not the only student to comment on the friendly attitude he encountered. Bedside manner was cited by many students as a positive quality of the Health Services staff. "I'm an RA and I asked for a bag of condoms for my suites; the woman was really nice and gave me a ton," sophomore Lisa Goldberg said. "I'm pretty sure I'll never run out."
Senior Rina Sobel agreed with Rawlings' and Goldberg's assessments: "They're very nice people," she said.
Despite its friendliness, however, some students were concerned with the efficiency of Health Service. Sobel explained that many friends of hers "find it easier not to go" to Health Services because of the long waits involved.
"I know a lot of people who are under the impression [that] essentially the benefits don't outweigh the costs of taking that much time out of the day," Sobel said.
Clinic Manager of Health Services Kathleen O'Dea explained that many students' frustrations are due to their own lack of planning: "Sometimes students who walk in feel like the wait is too long. If you call in the morning, you can usually get an appointment. We keep blocks open for random walk-in appointments," she said.
O'Dea added that Health Services hopes to limit inefficiencies and increase speed by switching from paper to computer records which took place this past spring.
"We switched to electronic records in May. All freshmen have electronic records, but we are still converting upperclassmen records," she said. "We are still getting used to electronic records, but eventually we will be much more organized than we were with paper records."
Freshman Adam Savitzky noticed the speed of Health Services when he went to the first of three flu shot clinics, offered for free to all Tufts students. "I expected it to be jam-packed and slow, but I got through really quickly," he said. "I almost forgot to go, but I'm really glad I did."
Some students, however, thought that Health Services did not take their illnesses seriously enough.
Freshman Jennifer Bollenbacher went to Health Services because she was suffering from a cold. "My experience at Health Services was easy because I had known to make an appointment, but they suggested I continue taking over-the-counter medication," she said. "I ended up calling my own doctor to have her prescribe antibiotics for me."
O'Dea could not comment on specific cases, but she did explain that students frequently expect doctors to give them medication when they don't actually need it. "Often people mistake the natural course of an illness with needing an antibiotic," she said. "People can also get progressively worse. It doesn't mean that the physician missed something."
Senior Cassie Norgaisse had a mixed experience with Health Services after being stung by a bee and discovering that she was allergic. "They gave me some Benadryl," Norgaisse said. After her hand swelled up, Norgaisse returned to Health Services, and was told "to take some more Benadryl," she said. By the next day, however, her entire arm was swollen.
Though Health Services did not initially respond with prescriptions to Norgaisse's allergic reaction, she found that once they had realized their mistake, they were quick to act. After calling in several doctors to look at Norgaisse's arm, "they gave me this antibiotic, and they just kept checking up on me," Norgaisse said. "They called me when I was in my room sick ... they were really nice."
Many others are satisfied with the manner in which Health Services treated their medical conditions: Rawlings found himself back at Health Services with another significant injury this year and discovered satisfactory results again. "I was injured and lost a big chunk of skin out of my hand. They employed some high-tech equipment that healed it really well," he said.
Junior Johanna Thelin was also impressed with the service she received at Health Services. "I had a really bad strep throat and I ended up being allergic to [the bacteria]," she said. "I had a pretty rare reaction to it ... I knew what it was just because my mom has it, but the doctor knew right away what it was, which impressed me, since it's so rare."
Senior Calvin Metcalf also found that Health Services took him seriously. He compared his experience at Health Services at Tufts positively to that of his Tufts-in-London program abroad: "I had a cough when I went to the Health Services here, they gave me a prescription cough medicine," Metcalf said. "When I went to Health Services in England, they told me to stop smoking and my cough would go away in six to eight weeks."
Metcalf might have encountered trouble, however, if he wanted to get help for his cough in the middle of the night. Health Services is only open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Until 1993, Tufts Health Services was open 24 hours a day and had a twelve-bed infirmary. But it wasn't being used enough to justify its existence, according to O'Dea. "When Tufts did a review of campus conditions, they found that the infirmary was not cost-effective because it was rarely used," she said.
The clinic may be closed at night, but Tufts still has a physician on call 24 hours a day for emergencies.
Other schools nearby, however, are a different story. In addition to offering the services provided by Tufts, Boston College provides a 24-hour inpatient unit.
Boston University has an eight-bed infirmary and 24-hour mental health emergency care. BU senior Tiffany Rothwell said that she thought the infirmary was "good because if something's going on, they can give you immediate attention."
However, the infirmary didn't fix all the problems at BU: "I've never actually used health services myself, but I've gone with friends who have issues and it ends up being a huge pain in the a-, and you sit there forever," Rothwell said.
Though Tufts might not have 24-hour full-time service or an infirmary, it is ever-expanding. The FDA's approval of the HPV vaccine was news this summer that quickly affected Tufts. Health Services offers female students three installments of the vaccine for a total of $420.
Goldberg was impressed by the service: "They got the new HPV vaccine as soon as it came out, and [they] have it for cheaper than in most doctors' offices," she said.
Health Services will also hold flu clinics today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday, November 8, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For the coming months, O'Dea suggested that students stay healthy to avoid winter illness. Students should get "adequate rest, eat a well-balanced diet, wash their hands frequently, and avoid close contact with people who are sick," she said.
If a roommate is sick, O'Dea said that a student should keep his or her room as clean as possible. "Use Clorox wipes on places that you both touch frequently, like the doorknob and the phone," she said.