WINTER 1999
Volume 42, Number
2
IN THIS ISSUE
Stretching
the Dollars to Update Technology
'Dear
Mom...'
What
We Need
Sweating
out the Tryouts
Changing
Binge Drinking
Health
Iowa
Students First Rx
Plenty
of Choices
Squandered
Opportunities
Parent
Times Briefs
Calendar
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A student comes to The University of Iowa for the first term.
Orientation is interesting. Registration for fall semester courses
comes and goes. Welcome Week is fun, and the student meets some
good new friends. Classes begin. One morning the student thinks,
"Hey, this is no problem. I can handle college."
Then comes the first illness.
Mary Khowassah, M.D., director of Student Health Service, knows
this scenario well.
"That first illness is a very big deal," she says.
"This may be the first time the student has been away from
home. When that fever hits, he or she is going to want Mom with
the cool washcloth on the forehead."
Up until the first fever strikes, most students have never made
a decision to seek medical helpthat was always parents'
responsibility. The student doesn't always know how to find help,
she says.
"Fortunately, one of their first moves will be to call home.
Hopefully, parents have heard about us through the mailing we
send each fall, or at Orientation. They'll urge their student
to call for an appointment at Student Health."
For the "do-it-yourself" types, Student Health distributes
a bright pink Health Kit to each student upon arrival at Iowa.
It contains Tylenol, Band-Aids, plastic bandages, and an oral
thermometerthe old-fashioned kind. "Some students have
no idea how to use it," Khowassah laughs.
The kit also features a Student Health Service Self-Care Guide,
so they can find out whether their symptoms warrant a Cambus
trip to the clinic or simply a long nap and some orange juice.
Student Health Center now requires appointments. In previous
years, students walked in when they felt ill, which sometimes
resulted in long waits to see a physician. Appointments help
to make the wait much shorter. But this was a big adjustment
for center staff. When the new system was put into place, the
volume of telephone calls outran the center's staffing at first,
Khowassah says. That situation is lessening now.
The whole continuum of medical care is readily available at
Iowa. If students need help that goes beyond Student Health Center's
resources, they may use all the resources of the University of
Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as well, she points out. "We're
fortunate to have that here."
So students have a variety of ways to get help. What about Mom
and Dad, hundreds of miles away and agonizing over their student's
illness?
"Parents sometimes contact us directly when they're concerned,"
Khowassah says, "and we have to tell them we can't talk
to them about their student without the student's permission.
We explain the reasons behind this, and they understand, but
it's hard on the parents."
When a student contracts an illness such as mononucleosis that
will last for several weeks or months, physicians at Student
Health will ask the student to sign a release so they can speak
to parents directly.
Khowassah says parents can be a big help during illnesseseven
from far away.
"Be there," she says. "If your student has a concern,
if they can't seem to open up to you, let them know you're there
and you care. But also, tell them to contact Student Health."
Students who go to Student Health, now in a new location at
Westlawn, enter a light, airy environment with bright art works,
comfortable furniture, and room for the 11 physicians and the
rest of the staff of 40 who care for Iowa's students. Among the
resources are full- and part-time psychiatrists who understand
all kinds of mental health issues. University Counseling Service,
also in Westlawn, helps students work through difficulties in
their lives, and a Health Iowa counselor also works one-on-one
with stressed students.
-By Anne Tanner
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Mary Khowassah,
M.D.,
Director of Student Health Service
No matter what
hurts, Student Health Service physicians and nurses can help
Student Health
Service's new waiting room.
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