Centers provide services

FluPoster.bbFortunately, the university boasts both a Student Health Center and Counseling Center to help students deal with stress and its effects.

A fully equipped medical facility designated for students, the Health Center also includes a pharmacy. Most of the services provided are free of charge to students. Some such as x-rays and laboratory work require minor fees.

“I went there a few times with everything from trouble breathing to headaches,” senior Justin Collymore said. “They had a very professional attitude and I felt taken care of as a result.”

Students can go to the Health Center for something as minor as a sprained ankle to something as necessary as monthly medicine.

“The Health Center has always been convenient and helpful to me,” recent graduate Christian Thomas said. “UM students should really take full advantage of it.”

Open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thursdays when hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Health Center is conveniently located just off the main entrance of the university on Merrick Drive in Building 21, Room R.

To help cope with the struggles they might face during college, students can visit the Counseling Center. It provides individual and group counseling for people having trouble adjusting to the new environment, and career testing for students unsure of where to go with their college career.

“I really felt like I had no direction in my life,” Collymore said. “When I went to the Counseling Center, they really helped me to figure out what I want to do with my life and get things back on track.”

More specialized services such as crisis intervention and SART (Sexual Assault Response Team) are also provided.

Help in adjusting to a variety of issues is available to students. The staff sets outreach programs during orientation to present its services, trains resident assistants to identify problems and makes available stress management programs.

“Our mission is to get the student through school,” said Pamela L. Deroian, a clinical psychologist and the director of the counseling center. “We help [students] work through obstacles they have difficulty adjusting to.”

The Counseling Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through regular appointments. Counselors can be reached at (305) 284-5511 or by going in person to Building 21-R of the Center for Student Services.