Health Services offer their help

It goes without saying, that to succeed academically, you need to stay physically healthy. As you begin your exciting journey at college, you will face many opportunities for networking, socializing and living with others. You will also be enjoying newly-found freedoms and will be making independent decisions. The choices you make can affect your health for the rest of your life.

Make wise choices when it comes to personal habits and behaviors. Remember the basics you have probably heard all your life. these never change.

Don’t drink or eat after someone.

Cover your coughs and sneezes. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or cough into your elbow. After using a tissue, throw it in the trash.

Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers if soap and water are not available. Hand-washing is the single most important element of preventing the spread of infection.

Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

-If you are sick, don’t share your germs

-Take a flu shot every year

Make informed sexual choices. If you need information, come to the clinic.

Did you know:

-some of the most common sexually transmitted diseases do not go away with treatment, meaning you will have it the rest of your life?

some sexually transmitted diseases interfere with you reproductive capability? This may not seem important to you now, but it will in the future.

-some STDs cause pain?

-some STDs can eventually cause death if not properly treated?

-some STDs can be present without your knowledge?

Make wise choices. Use protection if you choose to be sexually active. Remember, when you engage in sex with another person, it is like having sex with every person they have ever been with before.

Don’t drink to excess. Don’t use illegal drugs and don’t take someone else’s prescription medication.

Since the H1N1 influenza scare in the spring, it is not known what type of flu season may occur this fall and winter. There is some speculation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the virus may re-emerge in a stronger version.

We will all need to do everything we can to not get or to contain the flu. Any flu is caused by a virus and is very easily spread to others. The only way to control the spread of infection with the flu is by implementing suggestions above.

The Student Health Clinic is located in Beeson Hall, between the library and Parks Memorial buildings, facing Montgomery street. We are open Mondays through Fridays, 8:15 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

You must bring your valid Bobcat card in order to be seen in the clinic. Because you pay a health fee, there is no charge for appointments and most medications are provided at no cost. There are costs associated with some lab tests and vaccines.

You do not need insurance in order to be treated at the clinic, but we strongly encourage you to have it for emergencies or if you need to be referred to another provider.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Aug 7 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry