Student Health Survey reflects discontent

Students overwhelmingly unhappy with health services

The horror stories are abundant. One violinist's arm was so badly bruised from a blood test that she couldn't bend her elbow for a week. When she complained, the clinic blamed her, saying she had held her arm too low during the test. Another student's mono was diagnosed as a small cold. Another student's medication made him sick.

Students reported these incidents and many like them on the student health surveys that the Student Senate gave out last semester. One hundred sixty-two males and 277 females, altogether representing between 15 and 20 percent of the student body, filled out the survey.

Appleton said that she was not familiar with the results of this survey, but that she had given out surveys of her own.

Of the 439 respondents, 31.5 percent rated the student clinic a one or a two on a scale of five, five being the highest. College physician Dr. Judith Appleton was rated a one or two by 41.3 percent of the respondents and Allen Memorial Hospital ranked one or a two with 19.74 percent of the respondents.

The survey asked students how many days elapsed between making an appointment with the clinic and the date of the appointment itself. It also asked students to rate satisfaction with the student clinic, Dr. Appleton and the Allen Memorial Hospital.

Psychology professor Judith Beinstein Miller said that how questions are asked on a survey can steer public response in a positive or negative direction. Questions can be loaded, she said.

Miller also said that respondents are likely to be those who are very pleased or super unsatisfied with student health and that the majority of students may not have an opinion and therefore did not answer the survey. "It's the middle ground you lose in mailed surveys," she said. But she also said that it's worth looking into the reasons that some people are extremely unsatisfied with the clinic.

Of the respondants, 57.4 percent said that they had to wait two to three days to get an appointment. Many students said that by the time they got to see Dr. Appleton, their illness had either gotten much worse or had gone away altogether. There were similar complaints about the hospital. One student said that at Urgent Care, "`urgent' means three or four hours."

Senator senior Noah Bopp said that three days is too long to wait to see a doctor. Senator sophomore Marissa Demetrius said that much of the problem lies in the fact that Appleton is the only doctor specifically for students. When Appleton is unavailable, Demetrius said, the community clinic is often too busy to see students immediately.

Most respondents to the survey said that they were dissatisfied with Appleton. Students said that she misdiagnoses problems and that she does not prescribe medication properly. "She gives out medicine like candy," one student said. Another student said that "she tried to kill me" by not prescribing antibiotics. One student said that Appleton told her that she had a hernia and she later found out the diagnosis was wrong.

Some students were also dissatisfied with her manner towards patients and others said that members off the clinic staff had treated them rudely. "I do not appreciate being treated like it's my fault." said one student about her encounters with Appleton and clinic staff.

Of the respondants, 23 percent gave her a one, the lowest possible score. "That's really bad," Demetrius said.

Several students said that they would rather be treated by a resident fresh out of medical school than by Appleton.

Bopp and Demetrius said they are concerned about student-clinic relations and Demetrius said that Appleton could be more professional. She said that Appleton is the only doctor she has seen that opens a book in front of a patient to read about the symptoms.

Bopp said that there is a "lack of people skills in general" among the Oberlin administration, and that it "extends to student health and unfortunately to the doctor." He also said, "It doesn't seem like she's taken steps to improve."

But the comments about Appleton were not all bad. One student said, "I think she's good, she doesn't pretend to know about things outside her specialty." Another student said, "I love Judith Appleton." Only 13.4 percent of the respondents rated Appleton a 4 or a 5.

Many females said that they would like to see a female gynecologist at the clinic. Several, however, said that they loved Pat Serio, the midwife who also practices at the community clinic.

Students also said that they had problems with Allen Memorial Hospital. One said that she was prescribed conflicting medications. Another said that one doctor looked at her disbelievingly when she said that she neither experimented with drugs nor had unsafe sex. Another student said that the clinic and hospital have "preconceptions about Oberlin students. "

Some students reported that they were angry because they were paying for the poor medical care. Many also said they would rather go to Cleveland or wait until they were home to see a doctor. Some said that they had not even gone to the clinic because they had heard such bad things about it.

"It would be funny if it were not true," said Bopp, and he added that it is frightening that it is true. "It's terrible how bad some people feel," he said.

This is the first year the Senate has done a student health survey. It was Demetrius' idea. Demetrius, who takes allergy shots at the clinic every other week, said that the student health situation is dangerous because students do not trust the clinic. She said that new students hear stories beforehand and then expect the worst. She said that she is concerned because busy Oberlin students need access to a good clinic, especially in the winter.

Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole said, "It was clear from the forums that students would like to see major changes in student health," particularly in the quality of service and education programs.

Cole has hired two consultants to asses the strengths and weaknesses of Student Health. These consultants have seen the surveys. The consultant's reports should be in within a month.