Happy almost spring break! Other than a little blip of snow on Wednesday, we’ve had a mostly warm and sunny week, and today is totally gorgeous. Just one more assignment and I’ll be free…
Unfortunately, I got sick this week, but, fortunately, Amherst has a really wonderful student health center that I wanted to highlight for you all in this post. We all get sick in college, especially the first year as our immune systems adjust, and many people have ongoing health needs. I know that a college’s healthcare resources can be a really important factor in making the decision about where to go, so I hope this information can help you out.
The health center is open Monday-Friday from 9-4:30. Students can make an appointment with a doctor, PA, or nurse just by calling, and it’s quite easy to get in same-day. That’s what I did this week, when I found myself bed bound with a bad cough. I was able to get an appointment 2 hours after my call, and they sent me away with an excuse note for missing my classes and a prescription for cough medicine. They’re very used to all types of college bugs, and are fully equipped with the survival stuff (Advil, Tylenol, cough medicine, etc.). But they do a whole lot more, which I’ll try to rattle off here:
- Bloodwork and other lab tests: They take your blood right at the health center then send it off to UMass’s lab for testing. It’s a very quick turnaround time.
- Reproductive healthcare: They can provide preventative reproductive care, like pap smears. Dr. Jones can prescribe birth control, and they can give referrals to outside clinics that can insert IUDs or implants, or provide other reproductive care procedures. They also prescribe the emergency morning-after pill, even before you might need it as a just-in-case.
- Gender affirming healthcare: They can support continuation of care (hormone shots, etc) and provide support and resources for navigating things like name changes on documents or give referrals for treatments they can’t do at the health center.
- Bruises and sprains: I got a running injury my sophomore year, and they were able to take a look and provide me with a walking boot.
- Prescriptions: I know a lot of people who get their prescriptions directly from the health center. UMass pharmacy delivers it and you can pick it up right on campus, or you can get it sent to CVS.
- Support for long-term conditions: They have a medical fridge for safe storage of refrigerated medications like biological drugs or insulin. I take a refrigerated medication and get it delivered straight to the health center. They unpack it and store it in the fridge for me, and when I need to take it, I just drop in and they give me a private room.
I’m sure there is more that I can’t think of right now, but that should cover a lot of the basics! I’ve found the health center to be the most consistently functional and friendly resource on campus, and have relied on them heavily throughout my time here. The staff are all amazing, too. I’ve heard a lot of college health center horror stories and am very grateful that we have such a nice one. It’s been a real unexpected perk of Amherst for me.
That’s all for this week! Please feel free to email me (swolff25@amherst.edu) with any questions (health center-related or not) that you might have. If you’ve already had spring break, I hope it was wonderful, and if you’re like us and about to start break, I’m sending my best wishes for a restful week.