Student health services offers services for students

Last year, the University of North Florida's Student Health Services provided 58,000 health-related services to students. According to Doreen Perez, director of student health, a health clinic must satisfy three requirements. "First of all, it must be convenient for students, second it must be cost effective, and third, it must be comparable to other health services, and our health clinic is all the above," Perez said.

Student Health employs one full-time doctor, three part-time nurse practitioners and three full-time nurses. The service is primarily funded by a fee appended to each student's per-hour tuition. This accounts for more than $1 million of the $1.2 million combined budget of student health and the Campus Alcohol and Drug Information Center.

"Many students are unaware that we exist," Perez said, noting the majority of students receiving services are either living on campus or in apartments near campus. Perez also said she would like for student health to extend services to a larger portion of the student population. The clinic is capable of testing for most sexually transmitted diseases, including free AIDS testing. Other services include physicals, immunizations, allergy shots, pregnancy testing, blood tests and minor surgical procedures.

New students can receive the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) shot from student health. The clinic supplies pharmaceuticals ranging from four different methods of birth control to allergy pills and antibiotics. "Our main mission is to help the students stay in school," Perez said.

Assesment Center offers training assistance for River Run

The Dr. Paul Shirley Assessment Center at the University of North Florida is offering training assistance to faculty, students and community members interested in participating in the 25th annual Gate River Run. "It's not too late to start training," said Jo Smith, coordinator of the preparation efforts. "You still have five weeks until the River Run."

The program is geared toward preparing novice runners for the 15-kilometer event and is based on the training schedule recommended by the organizers of the River Run. Practice runs are four days a week, twice a day to accommodate most schedules. The assessment center offers the runs at 12:15 p.m. and again around 9 p.m.

"We also offer assistance in other areas, such as diet and strength training," Smith said. "Preparation is not as simple as just getting out there and running."

According to Smith, the Assessment Center also offers fitness, stress and nutrition assessments. "We also try to simulate the competitive element of the race with three mile road races held every weekend," Smith said.

"This is also good for anyone interested in getting into running, even if they don't wish to compete in the River Run," Smith said. The River Run is March 9. Runners can register until March 8. For more details, call the race hotline at 739-1917 or go to 1stplacesports.com. The assessment center is also able to provide registration. The assessment center is located in the Dottie Dorion Fitness Center (Bldg. 25).