Student Health Service Center hosted an interactive presentation on Oct. 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to educate students on how they can prevent physical illnesses and sexual diseases.
Student Health Services organized an interactive health forum along with Caduceus, Mt. SAC’s pre-health professional club who assisted them in putting together the event. Students were able to assemble goodie bags ranging from flu prevention kits to sexually transmitted infection prevention kits.
There were also four medical professionals present who provided health services in the Student Health Center to answer and educate students on any questions they had in addition to debunking common misconceptions about vaccines and STIs.
“We want to keep [Mt. SAC students] safe and healthy … so they can be in class, but also know that Student Health Services are here in case they do come down with the cold and flu,” Amanda Gonzalez-Freeth, a Mt. SAC health educator said.
In addition, the Student Health Center offers low cost or no cost services.
“[Mt. SAC students] don’t need any type of health insurance as long as they are in at least one credit class, they are eligible to use our services,” Gonzalez-Freeth said.
They have six beds in the center, two medical providers, three registered nurses and two medical assistants.
(Veronica Minogue)
On top of evaluations and treatment for illnesses such as the cold and flu they also offer a variety of services for STIs, such as infection screenings and contraception such as birth control and condoms.
“Everything is confidential,” Johnathan Tran, a family nurse practitioner said. “We don’t disclose any STI information, all of your health information is protected … It’s helpful when you let us know what your practices are … what kind of risk factors you have so we can provide you with the best care.”
Iatana Perez, the Vice President of Caduceus, said she hopes students will feel more comfortable looking for resources on campus after meeting the staff and discovering what services they provide.
“I hope they learn more about how to access vaccines and the many resources that the school has to offer,” Perez said.
As students collected their goodie bags, they also played a variety of games. Students were encouraged to “spin the wheel” then answering true or false questions about vaccinations and a matching game with symptoms and STIs. Students were also offered a complementary tea at the end of the event by Caduceus volunteers.
(Veronica Minogue)
Student Health Services next event will be an Alcohol Awareness event in November with no official date stated, outside of the Student Center Building. In addition, Caduceus will also hold another event on December 1st called Condoms and Cookies where they will hand out cookies and condoms to students along with information on how to prevent STIs.
