I am pretty sure that most of us had an experience with the University Health Services (UHS) at least once. If not, from personal experience, do not go there unless you really have to. From the deliberation I went to, we were discussing the problems of the Penn State healthcare system and methods in order to reform it in a way that solves most of the students' concerns.
The first approach to this problem was community and fairness. Having healthcare can be very costly for people to pay, however, it is optional for Americans to have. In order to reduce the cost of healthcare and decrease the waiting time, every student should be insured. If there are students who cannot afford the insurance, then it is up to the other students to help pay for them. In a sense, it seemed like a small-scale system based off of the universal healthcare model used in Canada and France. The pros to this include that the extra money being paid by the students can help hire more staff and equipment, which will then decrease waiting time for the patients.
As you can guess, there was a fair amount of disagreement to this problem. While these ideas may seem ideal, it is very hard to implement. Just look at the Affordable Care Act, for example. People are willing to help other people, but not at the cost of their expense, especially money. Just because a student cannot afford to pay for his/her healthcare doesn't make it fair that I have to pay it through my tuition. Mandating healthcare was an ideal goal, however, the problem with this is that UHS only accepts certain healthcare providers. The common consensus was that the system should be the way it is right now.
The second action was personal responsibility, self-reliance and security. Even with all of the resources provided to the students, students do not have the motivation to care for themselves so it should be up to the university to take responsibility for this but how much responsibility was the question. For many students, it was their first time away from home so they might not be able to take care of themselves, thus the students should teach other students ways to prevent getting sick. Clubs such as Kink Positive exist to promote healthy living and on the plus side, students feel more comfortable talking to other students about their problems when it comes to certain things (substance abuse, drinking, sex).
This idea sounds great but it may take several years to see an impact. THON didn't become successful overnight. Students may not even notice it. At the HUB, there are many clubs which pass out free condoms to students. People may feel embarrassed to take one in public, however, it comes to a point in which most people ignore it. I for one, barely notice it and the students at the deliberation proved this notion to be true. Because we are thrown with so much information in such a short span of time, we tend to overlook some things, this "condom stand" being one of them.
The last solution was efficiency. The UHS has potential to treat all students on campus, however, the way that the system is set up, it requires students to schedule appointments 1 week in advance, however, students may need care sooner, as they may pose a health risk to others round around them. When there were walk-ins and even in some appointments, some students (not in my case) were force to wait hours until they we finally able to see a doctor. This is because the appointments are set at 15-30 minute intervals and one late appointment sets a domino chain reaction of the other appointments happening later than its scheduled time.
There are actually several personal problems with this. Because the UHS wants to be on schedule, the staff tends to overlook some things. There are many similar symptoms for a variety of sicknesses and the UHS tends to misdiagnose. There is also an inefficient pharmacy section. Another problem is time. UHS is opened 9-5, however, if a student needs help at any other time outside of this, they are force to go to Mt. Nittany at their own expense. A solution to this was that there be a shuttle going from University Park to Mt. Nittany to avoid this problem. Longer hours may raise tuition, however, having a shuttle bus to Mt. Nittany only raises it slightly, so we were more willing to pay for this.
The common consensus to solving these problems was that students are in the real world right now and they need to learn how to care for themselves. Some illness can be avoided with simple home remedies, however, students are very reliant on UHS, but in order to increase the efficiency, this action must be taken. Habits are ingrained but when there are results being shown, people are more inclined to change their habits for the better. All in all, UHS is probably one of the best healthcare centers around, but the cons always over shine the benefits.
Maisha, you attended an interesting deliberation topic -- one that hits close to home, and one that will likely affect many students because, like it or not, it's inevitable that most students will get sick and need some degree of medical care during their college years.
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear how the group framed the deliberation by teasing out distinct underlying values behind each option: 1) community and fairness, 2) personal responsibility, and 3) efficiency. Like the deliberation our class held, each option carries some merits and drawbacks. I'd agree with your group's overall consensus that this college experience is the first step into the real world, and consequently, requires a good degree of personal responsibility. (The idea of greater efficiency still sounds very valuable, though!)