Screening Questions During Appointments (Stand-alone message for new patients) Welcome to College! Your university years will be a time when you experience many new decisions and have first encounters – new people, attitudes toward alcohol and other drugs; questions about relationship expectations, identity, and sex; academic challenges that may be unlike what you’ve experienced in high school. Having questions and doubts about how you can manage these situations is very normal. The good news is you’re not alone, and USC has resources to make your time at college as smooth a transition to independent adulthood as possible. To help find factors that may put you at greater risks to your health, your USC Student Health visits may include questions to assess impacts of common conditions in college-aged young adults: alcohol use, experience of childhood trauma/interpersonal violence; depression; regular preventive care and risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Your Mental Health matters because You Are Important to Us Your visit may include screening questions about stress, anxiety, depression, changes in sleeping or eating, and other behavioral and mental health conditions you may have been experiencing. Your visit may include screening questions about adverse events experienced during childhood that may have impacts to your mental health.
Your Alcohol and Drug patterns matters because You Are Important to Us Your visit may include screening questions about alcohol and other drug patterns that may impact your health and well-being.
Your Healthy Sexuality matters because You Are Important to Us Your care provider may ask you if you are sexually active; if you are comfortable discussing your practices, you are welcome to ask questions about safe sex, contraception, and testing for sexually transmitted infections. You can also use our “self service” option for STI testing through MySHR, or schedule a visit with a medical provider of a specific gender to help answer your questions.
Your Overall Health matters because You Are Important to Us Your care provider may ask you if you are up to date on recommended preventive services; receiving preventive services such as vaccinations, blood pressure checks, screening for diabetes or high cholesterol, and recommended cancer screenings can prevent disease and catch conditions early. Your provider will base their recommendation on your age, health conditions, and family history.
Your responses are completely confidential and will help your provider team make assessments that can support your overall health and well-being during your time at USC.