Transitioning from a pediatrician to an adult doctor which typically occurs around the age of 18 to 21, can be a complex process for both a child and their parents. Overcoming the emotional attachment with your pediatrician over the years and leaving this familiar and trusted healthcare provider is challenging.
This process can feel daunting at times, especially if the student is not accustomed to managing their healthcare independently.
College students get ill more frequently at school than at home when students are exposed to new environments, potentially leading to new health risks. It’s essential to emphasize the importance of regular check-ups and preventive care to maintain overall well-being.
Some college students may adopt unhealthy habits, such as poor nutrition, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol consumption, and inadequate hand hygiene, which can compromise their immune system and increase the risk of falling ill.
Students who maintain good hygiene practices, manage stress effectively, get enough rest, and practice preventive measures can reduce their risk of getting sick. The importance of preparing for optimal healthcare during college years is the best decision one can make to secure their future.
When kids are in college, Linda Jacobs, MD, Concierge Pediatrics, constantly sees challenges students have with getting appointments in the school health center especially during the most busy sick season. She finds that patients end up being forced to use local walk-in clinics or emergency rooms in order to be evaluated. Parents can end up getting outrageous bills for basic tests from these centers. Instead, utilizing Concierge Pediatrics, college students who have access to a state of the art bio tech device and telehealth system, the Nonagon, as well as home tests for flu, covid and strep, would allow them to be able to be appropriately diagnosed from the comfort of their college room; saving them time, aggravation, and potentially large bills for basic care.
Mental health issues are another factor with an epidemic right now, and going to college can sometimes exacerbate anxiety, depression, OCD tendencies, and restrictive eating issues. The ability to have more time to be available to address these issues beforehand with Concierge Pediatrics, we can make sure patients are stable, safe and feeling supported at any time, says Linda Jacobs, MD, Concierge Pediatrician.
Jonathan Jassey, MD, Concierge Pediatrician knows, as parents, we take pride and joy in many different aspects of our children’s lives, but in some of those joys can come trepidation. College can be one of those moments where as excited as we are for them to embark on a phenomenal journey in life, we can be anxious for them to be on their own and concerned about things such as: How will they handle being on their own? How will they manage when they get sick?
By signing up for the Concierge Pediatrics College program, one can rely on the trusted doctors from home that will be there for your student in every step of the way for when a student gets sick, they have mental health concerns, eating concerns and/or alcohol or substance abuse concerns. Not only having the ability to text with your trusted physicians, but also the ability to use a state of the art telemedicine device, the Nonagon, it will give the ability to a doctor from home to properly diagnose infections on the spot with looking in a patients’ mouth and ears, listening to your heart and lungs and seeing pictures of rashes and pink eye from afar. All from the comfort of their college room! A student can have testing done without going to a health center or urgent care, who doesn’t know them at all or at least have a physician from home liaise with a medical team in a college town.
Traveling abroad for college can present even greater challenges when it comes to finding healthcare. Being in a new country with a different healthcare system and potentially unfamiliar language and cultural barriers can make accessing medical services complicated.
If you want to learn more about having health support at home while at college or studying abroad, call Concierge Pediatrics at 516-514-7337 or email [email protected].