Why You Should Take Advantage of Your School’s Health Services

Hey, friends! I want to share with you something that I believe is vastly overlooked when it comes to college life, healthcare. When searching for posts on college when I first began, I rarely saw posts on going to the doctor while away at college. That could partly be because when you first start college, you go back home more often so you see the doctor when you go home. However, what happens when something happens mid-semester? Or, when you don’t go back home as often and need to see the doctor for a regular checkup? You’ll most likely go and visit your school’s health services.

So, why you should use your school’s health services? What are they? Well, it is a service that is run by doctors and nurses, like a regular doctor’s office except for college students. I’m not going to lie, when I first thought about going to ASU Health Services, I thought they were like an infirmary or somewhere that is for emergency type services only. I didn’t think I could make a regular appointment and see a regular doctor, especially on the West campus. However, I logged on to the student health portal, and saw that I could set up an appointment with a range of doctors, from general care, to women’s health, to nutrition, and others.

Our parents expect the school to provide some type of available health care for us while we are away, and that’s why schools have health services. Now, you don’t have to have student insurance through your school to use the health services. You can still be under your parent’s insurance, just have your insurance card with you when you go to the office. If you don’t have a physical card {like me} I suggest calling ahead and making sure they can take a scanned copy that your parents emailed you.

That’s all great, so why should you use your school’s health services? Because they are right there on campus. Many college students, especially freshmen, do not have a car or a way to get around the city they are now living. Besides that, they don’t know where the closest doctor is, if they are good, or if there is one that their insurance may cover. They may not plan on living there after college, so they might not want to find a doctor in that city.

Why would you waste your time going and searching all around the campus for a doctor when there is one right there, on campus? I don’t see a reason why. Your school’s health services will help you whether you need just a check up, or are about to graduate and you need to transition to a doctor outside of the school.

Your school’s health services may also put on special events for students, to help them relax and take their mind off. At ASU West, on Wednesday, they offer chair massages for 10-15 minutes. So, check out your local health services and see what they offer in terms of special events for students!

Make sure you go ahead and check out your school’s health services and see what events they offer. Also, make sure you get a checkup, you know that once someone gets sick in the dorm, everyone will! Take care of yourself, and take advantage of your school’s health services while you can!

Do/did you use your school health services from your college? Let me know in the comments!