Health Center promotes self-examinations

classroom education, even in the face of opposition.

October doesn’t warrant any special attention to breast cancer for Pierce College’s Student Health Center.

Instead, clinicians do pink ribbons justice every day by providing individual exams and

Outside the office, Health Center Director Beth Benne teaches warning signs and proper self-examinations for breast and testicular cancers as part of a classroom-based outreach program.

Inside the exam rooms, Benne and her clinical staff teach as they examine, suggesting that women participate in a breast exam to learn the nuances of their bodies and more accurately detect abnormalities.

“Our best teaching occurs in the clinic. During an individual examination, we help you discover what your breast is like,” Benne said. “We as health educators believe that prevention is key.”

However, a recent change in medical standards by two national gynecological health care organizations mandated that clinics stop teaching self breast examinations, Benne said. Research shows that self breast exams do not affect death rates among women with breast cancer.

[See NEWS, pg. 3]

Ivory Coast native Aichata Traoré, 21, is an accounting major and one of the 21 volunteering student tutors at the Center for Academic Success (CAS) this semester. She spoke no English when she moved to the United States three years ago and attended a 6-month course in a private school to learn the language before enrolling at Pierce College.

French is Ivory Coast’s official language and it is also Traoré’s first language.

She is helping other students improve their skills in “the language of love.”

Traoré spends at least four hours a week at the CAS tutoring students, predominantly on

Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Her motivation to volunteer came from Marie Agel, professor of French, who informed her about the lack of tutors on campus.

“There’s no one to do it and people need help,” Traoré said.

Reaching out to other students has shown her she has the possibility of asking help from others.

“I used to spend my

Tuesdays at home, pretending to be studying, but I would be on Facebook instead,” Traoré said.

“Now, I can actually come here and get help with English.”

The volunteering program has shown her a place of focus and given her the motivation she needs.

Volunteering and being tutored have both been beneficial to Traoré who states that she is doing much better than the previous semesters.

“I can give and receive help at the same time,” Traoré concluded.