I have not been sick in my first couple semesters of college until today. I couldn't even tell you how I have the energy to type this, since I look and feel like death, but it seems to be an important issue.
I drove to the San Diego State healthcare center at 8:30 AM this morning, the time they open, and the earliest they could get me in was 10:30AM. Now, I had used all my energy to drive a mile there and they wanted me to drive back home and back again. They could obviously see my physical pain since my throat was so swollen I couldn't even clearly state my student ID number.
They did not ask any questions after I said I thought I had Strep, which I think is important considering it could be something else. My mom made me go to urgent care because not only did I have a sore throat, I was hot then freezing every other minute (and it was already 85 degrees this morning) and my neck was stiff and my whole back ached. Those are all potential signs of Meningitis, not saying I have it, but what if?
Isn't it part of their responsibility to make sure I was not seriously (and potentially fatally) ill? Why would it not be procedure to ask me of other symptoms? I thought nothing of it until my mom freked me out, but I am glad she did because I went to urgent care and saved and hour of my time.
Sad though, is that what it takes on a college campus to get treated? To be worried for extreme illnesses? It is ridiculous. I should not have to go to urgent care to be treated in a timely matter. They don't take appointments either, so I couldn't call ahead. Plus I had to waste gas, which is now four dollars in San Diego (crazy I know).
Here is the cherry though, I have a VIRUS. That is right, all they checked for was Strep throat and called it a day. After I fell asleep in my room waiting for a doctor because I couldn't sit up. So I got some Tylenol and Gatorade and they sent me (dare I say) on my merry way.
I feel like they need to be more proactive in their medicinal ways. What if I am really sick? I finally just got up off the couch, which I first layed on at 11:30 this morning. They seem to be slacking in their questioning. I feel like college that even have healthcare services, atleast need to make them reliable. I guess I cannot speak for all colleges, because some don't have the money. However, San Diego State definitely has the money and I believe I deserve a better service when I feel like the scum of the Earth.
How are all of your healthcare systems in college? I'd like to compare. :]
We have a nickname for our student health center, "McKill Me". And that about seems what they do best. I went in there with chest pains over a year ago, the older disgruntled man eyed me curiously and asked about heartburn and exertion and the like. After about 15 minutes he prescribes me a muscle relaxer, and "sends me on my merry way".
Fast Forward to this year: Chest pains haven't stopped and have started blacking out regularly (blacking out without moving even), I finally find some time to go and have it looked into, and after an chest X-ray, an EKG, and an Echo-Cardiogram I find out that I have heart problems....
How can they care for 40,000 students when there are only 4 regular physicians on duty?
Wow, I am sorry to hear that. Good point though, they never have enough doctors. I didn't even get seen by one, I saw a nurse practitioner. Don't get me wrong, I am sure she knowsa lot but I am just making the point.
Après la pluie le beau temps. ♥
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My college healthcare facilities weren't too bad. Sure, they didn't do much there, but that's because the college was closely connected with a huge hospital right across the street. However, the nurses at the college were really caring and did everything they could to help students and make them comfortable. It was great! Then, if we needed further care, we could just walk across the street.
Probably one reason why it was nice is because I went to a pretty small college. Therefore, the health place wasn't bombarded by students much of the time.
However, I agree... lots of colleges don't have the proper healthcare they should.
This isn't a problem just in college... it's a problem in all of healthcare. Doctors and nurses are overworked and (many times) underpaid, and just don't have the time to see all these patients on a day-to-day basis. Our student health center had to propose adding fees to part-time students in order to keep its measly staff of 1 part-time physician and 1 part-time nurse.
The problem is that there simply aren't enough people to staff these clinics, and they are far too busy as a result.
~C
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You're training to become a medical professional, right?
Whatdya think is the solution? Invest more in the system?
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues. And I'm asking you sir, at the top of my lungs - that thing! That horrible thing that I see! What's that thing you've made out of my truffula tree?"
With any luck...
I'm not sure what the solution is. There are so many problems with the healthcare system as it exists today that there would need to be many solutions presented in order to have a good system.
One of the problems is the way physicians (and likely other professionals, but I don't know much about their compensation) are compensated by the insurance companies. They get compensated by the quantity of patients that they see and the expense of the tests they order, rather than on the quality of patient care.
Another is the focus right now... we focus too much on treatment of the symptoms, rather than curing of the disease or ailment. As a result, things often get worse, and create more problems for our already damaged system.
Then, of course, there's the general shortage of nurses, resulting them in being overworked and underpaid. The problem there is that teaching nursing students isn't nearly as lucrative as being a nurse, so many don't care to do it. As a result, we have long waiting lists for people waiting to train to be a nurse, but very limited class sizes because there's no one there to teach them.
This is likely compounded by the fact that within the next several years, many physicians will be retiring, and the baby boomer generation will cause a nice strain on the system as they no longer pay in, but only take from. The American Association of Medical Colleges is trying to allow for this problem by mandating that medical schools expand their class sizes, but with the cost of training, and the lack of cadavers and space to train on, this is rather difficult for some. Then, in order to make a good living, the physicians that go and train end up specializing, so we lack the primary care physicians we need.
So, there's not one clean solution to it all. Rather, we have to fix all these little problems with the system in order to make it better and more accessible for everyone.
~C
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This is going to be really morbid and perhaps slightly inappropriate, but such is my mind.
The baby boomers are reaching the golden years of their life, right? Well, within, what? About 20 years or so? We'll probably no longer have a cadaver shortage (assuming most of the people donate their bodies, which is actually a good idea, if you think about it).
Look on the bright side, I guess. Though in such a profession and such a situation, the bright side isn't so bright for someone.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Good point, the bright side may be dim for some. My parents are both part of baby boomer families. My dad is a baby boomer, and my mom missed it by a year. My dad was one of seven, my mom one of 4. Now, I see what you are saying, but the only problem with that is patterns repeat themselves. Many people had a lot of babies because they went through the depression, the Red Scare, WWII, the Cold War and much more. Hmm, depression? That seems to hit me hard. With the possibility of depression, what if our generation decides to repeat the pattern of baby boomers?
I have enough friends to say it makes sense, they are all part of one or two children families (myself included) and they also all want at least three or more children (myself included again). I know it sounds a little crazy, but think about it. Clothing trends have been repeated over and over, housing trends have been repeated, even car trends have been repeated. What is to say that in a time of a recession (my opinion) people won't repeat afterwards what the people of the 50s did?
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In order for a population to sustain itself, it needs a birthrate of 2.1... a little more than one baby for every person. Most developed countries currently have a birthrate of about 1.8, or less. Meaning, without immigration, these populations would actually decline, not be sustained.
There are many biologists who think the capacity for humans on Earth is 5 billion people. We're over 6 billion now. If they're right, we'll start declining in overall population real soon, once we run out of abundant resources to feed the masses. I mean, the UN says 1 billion or more people are living below the poverty line already.
While you have many friends that want three or more children, I have many friends who don't want any. Who knows what the future will hold, but I doubt this country will see another boom like the baby boomer generation.
~C
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That is very interesting. I hope we don't see another baby boom like that, it was just a thought since things have a pattern of repeating. But not always.
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Very valid point, but with life expectancy getting longer (at least for the well-off) all the time, it might be quite a while before those cadavers hit the fridges.
~C
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People are funny about their remains. I suppose one could predict that cadaver donations will increase, simply because the number of cadavers will increase, but who knows? I know cadavers are vitally important to doctors in training, and to the quality of health care for future generations, but can I surrender my bag of bones to chemicals and hacking? I dunno. I AM thinking about it now, though...for the first time ever.
Hence my addiction to ProU!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I have just recently started to rethink my stance on that as well! While I am only 18, and when I had the choice (in California) to put that darn little pink donor sticker on my driver's license I refused. My mom said I needed to, but I didn't think so. I would of course give my family and a few friends, but to be picked apart by training med students or put in an exhibit? I am not so sure...
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The way I look at it -- I ain't using it anymore. I'd rather it go to benefit others than be coated in preservatives and left to kinda sorta rot (and at least completely rotting would feed the plants around me).
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Well, I want to be cremated so I won't be rotting. I am not using it, but it is my body not some med schools. That's how I look at it. But again, for family and close friends, without a doubt I would donate.
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Cremated, buried, stuffed in a mausoleum....it's still going to waste. Besides, how do you know that your donating your body to the med schools won't help teach the doctors that will save and/or change the life of one of your family members?
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
I don't think it is a wasting, but that is our difference in opinions. I don't know that but I think that is stretching it to say that there might be a chance my cadaver will teach somebody to save my family.
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Why would it be that much of a stretch? The books my mom used when she was in nursing school when I was 4 ended up saving my life ten years later. Who's to say that your cadaver wouldn't do the same (except that the knowledge is passed through experience instead of text).
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Well that is different, because she is your mom. I think somebody I don't know looking at my cadaver, and then going on to save somebody's life that I do know is a stretch. I totally see how it worked out with your mom though, that makes sense. I just think the chances of somebody I don't know are pretty slim.
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The little pink sticker on your license means you're willing to donate an organ to someone who needs it, not that you're donating your body for some other purpose. You have to go to the individual medical school in order to donate your body to be used by medical students. And by the time most are willing to do that, their organs are useless to anyone who might use them.
~C
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I did not know that, thanks for the info. I still would rather give them to family though.
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Yeah, I know it isn't only in college healthcare that there is problems. I decided to focus on that since I just experienced it and it relates to most people on this site. I agree though, here simply isn't enough staff. One doctor won't cut it for a waiting room with 25 or more sick college students.
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My mom made me go to urgent care because not only did I have a sore throat, I was hot then freezing every other minute (and it was already 85 degrees this morning) and my neck was stiff and my whole back ached.
Those are also signs of a flu-like virus. An illness doesn't have to be a major, life-threatening one to put you on your ass for a week. We actually had several cases of said virus go around where I live. That's not to say that there's not something else going on, however, that is the reason why self-diagnosing isn't usually the best thing to do.
Even so, check out WebMD's symptom checker. While it's not a doctor's diagnosis, I stuck in the symptoms you described and the top entry is the flu. The next is a general viral infection, followed by strep.
Meningitis typically has other symptoms that set it apart from the flu-like viruses, such as seizures. Headache and vomiting, when combined with the other symptoms also set it apart, so unless there's something you're not telling us (or the doctors), there's really not much reason to believe it's anything more than an ordinary viral infection, and considering the test to diagnose Meningitis is a spinal tap, the patient probably has to show the telltale symptoms setting it apart from the others to warrant performing such test.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Thanks for the advice, I was pretty sure I didn't have that but my mom went through it with my best friends mom so she is unbelievably paranoid. I was hoping it was strep so I could have anitbiotics. The nurse said it is most likely just a virus, woohoo. Hopefully this thing passes, because I think we all know how much it stinks to be sick in college. Yesterday I had a french presentation (didn't happen) then today I had a Comm test, and a rough draft of a paper due. Talk about bad timing.
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but then I saw you're in San Diego. Prolly not that, then! But I had a similar situation trying to get diagnosed with Lymes. I was made to wait, misdiagnosed, and charged excessively for their mistakes.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I didn't even think of that! Thankfuly though I am in San Diego, so I can rule that out. :]
And yes, all they want is your money, I swear. Get us in, charge us a lot, and get us out. That seems to be the motto of healthcare these days.
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Actually, one of the tell-tale signs of meningitis is the inability for the person to touch their chin to their chest without pain. If they can do that, it's probably not meningitis. I haven't personally heard of many people with seizures as a symptom, but then again, I don't know that many people who have gotten meningitis, so my sample size is pretty small.
~C
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Yours is bigger than mine, then. I think the seizures might be more severe cases and bacterial meningitis (which can cause brain damage, and since seizures are often caused by something with the brain...). Perhaps I should have stated the neck thing, but all the article says is that doing so is painful, it doesn't give a degree of the pain, so I didn't want to list that without more knowledge.
I am treated as evil by people who claim that they are being oppressed because they are not allowed to force me to practice what they do. ~D. Dale Gulledge
Yes, that is why my mom was so worried. They say one of the signs can be a stiff neck, and it did hurt for me to touch my chest but I think only because it was stiff, I still don't think I have meningitis! :]
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If you're functioning enough to get online 12 hours after the fact, you don't have meningitis. If you did, you'd be close to death or in a hospital by now.
~C
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That is why I said I don't think I have it... ? I get that now.
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My college health center is essentially a nurse's office. It is staffed by two nurses who can't do anything or prescribe anything. You can make an appointment for them to check your temperature, blood pressure, and ears, or to get basic first aid, and they can tell you what you already knew...you should make an appointment to see a doctor somewhere.
Then there's the student health insurance. I pay $550 a semester. I'm not covered during J-term or summer term. I haven't used it all year even though I've had an earache for four months because I have to pay upfront for any care I get, then they'll reimburse me between 10 and 80% when I send them the receipt. So I have health insurance I can't afford, and I still can't afford to go to the doctor.
It's infuriating, but I keep it in case of a major catastrophe. Which my earache may become in time. Grr.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
That is awful. Luckily, we don't pay any extra. If we take classes and pay tuition, we get healthcare. Half the people I know though don't even use it, they go to a real hospital or doctor's office like Kaiser.
Also, ours is too. I had a nurse practitioner and she gave me a verbal prescription for Tylenol. Gee, hadn't thought of that when I woke up in pain. I think there was one doctor, but he was taking care of people who were worse than me.
I hope your ear gets better, or at least doesn't turn into a catastrophe.
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I'm still covered by my parents' insurance, so that's one less thing I have to worry about.
We don't have a clinic or anything on campus. Right near the dorms is a family practice that will treat students under just about any insurance, and if its after the clinic is closed, you have to drive to the next town to go to the hospital. I've never been to either, the only time I was sick I figured it was just the flu and I might as well stick it out. I don't know anyone who's been to the clinic, but from what I can tell, the hospital is not the greatest. A student requested that we get a doctor or nurse on staff, but because of the clinic, apparently, no one thought that there was a need for it.
I think another problem may be that medical staff are less likely to take college students seriously. They figure we're overreacting, maybe because we're scared being sick away from home, or that we're just trying to get out of a test or some class.
Like what you've read? Well, then here's more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711