Student Health Advisory Committee promotes campus health
Cate Zenzen |
Director of University Health Services at Lipscomb University, Erin Keckley said college medicine is what inspired her to enter the health care world.
“I really feel like here we can make a difference in people’s lives, at the start of their adult lives,” said Keckley. “It’s a pivotal time of life when people are getting into adulthood and independent and on their own.”
In her desire to connect the student body with Health Services, Keckley started the Student Health Advisory Committee. These four student ambassadors meet monthly to consider health-related topics their peers would want to know and how to begin these discussions on campus.
“We need to do a better job in reaching out and getting health information for our students,” said Keckley. “Being the full-time provider here, I see patients the majority of the time and don’t have time to get out into the community and give them what they’re asking for.”
Student Ambassadors are Carmen Ayes, Katlyn Council, Reed Haga and Hayden Hall. A mix of male and female, junior and senior, the students are involved in a variety of activities on campus where they see firsthand the needs to be filled by the Health Center.
Council, an exercise science major, said she considers her involvement in the committee as an opportunity to represent the needs of students and provide them with information that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.
Haga is a molecular biology major who applied to pursue his interest in student health, while Hall, majoring in exercise science, hopes to influence change on campus.
A biology major, Ayes has spent several years as a student worker in the Health Services office and was a natural fit for the group.
Keckley recognizes the hesitancy in students to share personal information with health professionals and hopes a student-to-student connection will overcome this.
“Often people can feel isolated if they’re experiencing something and it’s just good to hear that somebody else is going through something too,” said Keckley.
The committee held their first student event on Nov.7, a self-defense class led by Lipscomb student Jon Luers. On Nov. 28, the group will host FBI agent Jeff Dale to lead a talk on what to do in the event of an active shooter. There will be pizza at 5:30 p.m. and the lecture will start at 6:00, in Ezell 109. Follow the group on instagram @lipscombshac
The objective of the Student Health Advisory Committee is to empower Lipscomb students with knowledge of health issues and encourage an even healthier campus. Keckley said she believes the service of these four students will be a resource for the entire campus because, “nobody knows the student body like the student body.”