Student Health NEWS Updates on Medical Care and Counseling and Mental Health Services for USC Students
NEW VENDING MACHINE GIVES STUDENTS 24-HOUR ACCESS TO HEALTH PRODUCTS Health issues can arise at any time. And college students, who can keep less conventional hours, may be more likely to need an Advil or a condom late night than between the hours of 9 and 5. That was the idea behind a new vending machine available to students 24 hours a day through a partnership between USC Student Health and USC Pharmacy. Instead of snacks, the machine stocks a variety of over-the-counter pharmacy products at its King Hall location, starting this spring semester. The machine, stocked with both general and reproductive health products, was first proposed by students in Undergraduate Student Government as a way to make emergency contraception, like Plan B, accessible to students after campus pharmacies have closed. Similar vending machines have appeared in recent years on the campuses of Stanford University and UC Davis. “We thought it was important for students to have around-the-clock access to emergency contraception on campus,” said Andie Wright, director of wellness affairs for USG. Sarah Van Orman, chief medical officer and associate vice provost for USC Student Health, was immediately on board with bringing one to USC after meeting with student leaders last spring. She and Kari Trotter Wall, director of pharmacy for the USC Pharmacy and Health Center Pharmacy, agreed that students might need a number of other pharmacy items at odd hours as well. Beginning January 2019, the “wellness-to-go” machine will be open for business with everything from Ibuprofen and thermometers to pregnancy tests and (continued on page 3)
SPRING 2019
New Faces in Health Care at USC
Pictured l. to r.—top row, Robert Mendola; second row, Erin Jones, Heather Needham, Anne Michels; third row, Vladimir Ayvazyan, Sarah Van Orman, Deirdre Logan
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SC Student Health, part of Keck Medicine of USC, has grown its clinical staff considerably in the 2018-2019 academic year. Under the leadership of nationally recognized college health expert Dr. Sarah Van Orman, USC Student Health has expanded services, enhanced student access to care, and demonstrated its commitment to the highest standards in health care. Van Orman, who spent the last decade improving student wellness at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as executive director of university health services, has a successful track record addressing critical public health issues such as sexual misconduct and assault, risky alcohol use and mental health challenges in the college student population. As associate vice provost for student health and chief medical officer for USC Student Health, Van Orman recruited Dr. Robert Mendola, board certified in psychiatry, to head mental health and counseling services. In the past year, USC Student Health has brought on two new gynecologists, three new adolescent medicine physicians, and 10 new counselors – all of whom are board certified and hold faculty appointments in the Keck School of Medicine of (continued on page 2)