By Moriah Thomas
The cold months have arrived here at KU and many students are making appointments with the Health Center on campus. When asking several different students about their experiences with booking appointments in an online questionnaire, a definite split in opinion became present.
Samita Kafle, international student and biochemistry major, said, “It is super hard to get an appointment on time…like you are sick today and they tell you that you have an appointment in a week! Also the doctor is never there…They really need to change everything over there.”
All international students must have private insurance or purchase it from KU. Also, as quoted from the KU website under International Student Health Insurance, “To ensure that all international students have health insurance coverage, a charge for the university plan will be added to your tuition bill. This charge can be removed after the completion of requirements (see below form) and approval by Health Administrative Services.”
Even with an influx of visits due to Flu season, preparations should be made to see that every student has the ability to be seen sooner rather than later. Having to wait a week after being sick and missing classes affects attendance and grades. Though there is a wide array of services offered at theHealth Center, it seems to take too long to be seen by a physician or nurse for certain conditions. In the online questionnaire, two other female international students agreed wholly with Kafle’s point.
Along with these reported experiences, there are also contrasting ones. Ben Palochak answered this in reference to the online question.
“I always just showed up, saw the nurse within like 15 minutes, and if I needed to see the doctor for a prescription, they would either have me come back at a scheduled time or take care of it pretty much immediately.”
Another student reporting a positive response when booking an appointment is Bradi Gallagher,
“I have been sick for over a week and on the day I decided to go to the health center, I looked online and booked an appointment that day a couple hours later.”
So while some students are getting care faster than others, there seems to be a gap between resources and demand. While the Director for Health & Wellness Services will collaborate with the Provost’s Office to notify teachers of an extended absence, it does not help if the student can’t get an appointment right away in order to receive an excuse note. This situation must be remedied.
