All About College Orientations: Part 2 of 5

Photo credit: Totally Tailgates

We have the top tip most parents and students don’t know about…..right here in All About College Orientations: Part 2 of 5.

During college orientation visits, there are many new and exciting places to visit on campus in between orientation sessions. Like the bookstore, where you spend the equivalent to a semester’s worth of tuition on collegiate gear for every family member including the dog. Exploring the campus together is so rewarding….mainly for parents because we feel like we too are going back to college. So, we live vicariously through our students during orientation.

Our daughter led the way during her university orientation.

In All About College Orientations: Part 1 of 5, we covered the topics of parking and transportation. Regardless of whether or not your son or daughter is taking a vehicle to school, it’s worth a read for sure.

Today, we are covering Part 2 of 5: Health Services.

Most parents and students by pass the Student Health Services Building during the initial requisite campus tour, and even more skip it during orientation. Oh, of course there is the obligatory “if you ever get sick, Kaley, here is where you need to go…”.

But, wait. That’s just not enough. For you OR your student.

Welcome, then, to All About College Orientations: Part 2 of 5.

When you are on campus for orientation, there are three small really big reasons why you and your crew should stop by…..

1. IMMUNIZATIONS
   Immunizations are really important to the institution. So much so that if your student fails to submit theirs in the proper manner and in the proper time frame, the might be barred from class. Each higher educational institution has different requirements and most are due to state health guidelines. Now, if you have special religious exemptions, you REALLY need to chat with someone inside Student Health Services to make sure you submit proper documentation. I’ve had other parents tell me they went online to garner this information, and that is all well and good. But it leads us to point number two……
2. FACILITY TOUR
   If your student is familiar with the location and process to utilize services, guess what? They will USE THEM when they are sick! 🙂 We stopped by Student Health Services to drop off her immunization records during orientation weekend with our daughter. She was enrolled in a big, big SEC school. And guess what? The nurse on staff was so pleased to meet a new student in person and tell our baby girl all about how to use their services. Here are the questions you need to ask:
   A) How do you make appointments? (Usually this is done online online – find out!)
   B) What are the operational hours? Are they open on weekends? 
   It seems kids never always get sick on the weekends!
   C) Are walk in visits accepted? What are the operational hours for walk ins? 
   D) What are the fees associated with Student Health Services?
3. NOTIFICATION WAIVER
   This is the big one, folks. This is the tip no one ever shares with each other! Why? Because most parents do not find out about this little privacy caveat until their son or daughter is really sick.Here’s the deal: You may not be contacted by any nurse or doctor if your son or daughter becomes gravely ill if they are over 18.In the eyes of the government, they are adults with full privacy protection. Even if YOU are the one footing a $45K per year tuition bill. It’s real.Let that sink in a moment.Your son or daughter could be laying in Student Health Services, incoherent with a raging fever and you may not be told by staff at Student Health Services. If your student has a responsible roomie you *might* get a text, but I wouldn’t count on that as your notification resource.True story: Our daughter fell and broke her ankle the first week of classes. She visited an urgent care center (because of course this happened on a weekend!) followed by an orthopedic specialist. Since we had guided her about the HIPPA forms she would need to sign at EACH office, she knew exactly what to do, and we were able to secure all documentation on her behalf even though we were out of state. The accident resulted in 9 weeks with a cast, a move back home for the semester, months of physical therapy for her, and gobs of medical bills. That said, it was a minor injury all things considered, and we were counting our blessings that the accident was not worse. Had we not been told about the HIPPA disclosures prior to saying goodbye on move in day, we would have dealt with a much bigger issue with the insurance company.Consumer Reports came out with a great article that covers the new HIPPA authorization requirements, how to get a medical POA (power of attorney) so you have access to your child.So, after you tour the dorms, cafeteria and you buy all the logo-ed gear you possibly can from the school bookstore, go to Student Health Services and ask for a waiver or drop of the one you printed at home.

And, we made copies of our daughter’s health insurance card and kept them on file at our house. When push     came to shove and an Urgent Care was needed for an after hours consultation, it came in handy as we helped her research available facilities within our health plan.

Make sure your son or daughter has a thermometer in their dorm room or apartment! They don’t need a fancy first aid kit, but a handy thermometer like this one for under $5 will help them gauge if a simple cold is progressing on to something more complicated.

Next up….on campus housing or off campus housing?!? Join me over at All About College Orientations: Part 3 of 5 right now!

P.S. – I am not affiliated with Rollins College at all; this is not a sponsored post in any manner. Rather, I visited a friend in Winter Park, FL whose child attends the college. We stopped by campus and I snapped lots of pics along the way! It is a gorgeous campus tucked away in a pocket of Orlando known as Winter Park, FL.