Research Intern Cohen Children's Medical Center Douglaston, New York, United States
Background: College is an important experience for a large population of young adults. This period is a challenging transitional stage as students must independently take care of one’s health. Most colleges require proof of health insurance before matriculation and offer school affiliated insurances. Therefore, with many students shifting physicians secondary to aging out, insurance change, and geographical positions, they must now rely on campus health facilities (CHF). Objective: This study examines the availability and accessibility of medical care of CHFs to examine whether they provide the care needed by these young adults. Design/Methods: The top 3 most enrolled colleges in each of the 50 US states were identified by two third party websites (CollegeFactual and College Raptor). 32 colleges were excluded for insufficient information (n=118). The following data were collected from each college and CHF website: 1) student population (SP); 2) number of clinical staff (CS) (MD/DO, NP, and PA); 3) MD/DO employment; 5) CHF hours, # days open/week, weekend availability; 6) reviews on appointment availability (on Google or Reddit). Analysis was done in R. Results: Overall, 118 colleges were studied with a SP total (n= 2,098,637). 104 colleges provided information on CS. Average CS:student ratio = 1:1,736 (Figure 1). Spearman’s coefficient test determined that the total undergraduate population is statistically correlated with student to staff ratio (ρ=0.398, p-value < 0.001); indicating less accessibility for students at larger universities. Out of 109 colleges, 80.5% of CHF had MD/DO. For 118 colleges, the average CHF opening time = 8:00 AM and average closing time = 4:30 PM; average duration = 8.5 hours. Average number of days open/week= 5.2. Overall (n=118), 83.1% of CHF did not open on weekends. 71.2% (n=118) had reviews either on Google/Reddit about lack of availability and difficulty booking appointments at CHF.
Conclusion(s): Our results indicate there is a concerningly low CS:SP, which only worsens when SP is larger. The average hours of operation conflicts with most student class and activities schedules. The vast majority of colleges do not open on weekends, which is typically when students are most available to attend to their health needs. A large proportion of negative reviews addressed the lack of appointments/difficulty in accessing CHF and other medical facilities may be excluded from college health care plans. It is imperative for medical providers to address the lack of on campus healthcare needs and provide resources for college students in need of medical attention.
