Winter Quarter is Just That Time of Year… aka: What Stanford Jews Think About Vaden

When I admitted to myself last Tuesday that I really was sick, I figured that I couldn’t complain too much because … well, it’s just that time of year. I was the fourth person on my hall to get a fever that week, and I decided to count myself lucky because I didn’t have whatever flu was going around that sent two of my friends to the hospital because they were dehydrated from throwing up all night. So when I realized that my regular cold had turned into some serious asthma, I figured, Meh, it could be worse.

Living in FroSoCo has its serious advantages, but when it comes to being sick – especially on weekends – I find it hard to deal with. Our dining hall, Ricker, is closed on Friday and Saturday, so I had to beg my friends to bring me food all weekend. And let’s all just admit it: west campus is far from Vaden! Maybe if I lived in Stern or Wilbur, I wouldn’t dread the trek out to see a doctor, but because I live so freaking far away from Vaden, I dread having to go. Don’t you think it’s a crime to make a sick person bike all the way across campus just to see a doctor?

Well, there was no way I could get myself on a bike – I didn’t even have enough lung capacity to drag myself downstairs. So after a week of lying in bed, praying that I would get better on my own, I stumbled down the hall on the following Sunday night and asked my CA if she would drive me to Vaden on Monday morning. Of course she willingly agreed, and said that after she got out of class, she would drive me over.

So Monday morning I set my alarm for 8am sharp, just so that I could wake up in time to call Vaden and make an appointment before their day filled up. You might be wondering… Why couldn’t I just call on Sunday when I finally realized that I needed to see a doctor? Because the night/weekend answering service at Vaden won’t schedule appointments! They only deal with emergencies. So after I waited on hold for ten minutes while the office got settled in, I made my appointment and promptly went back to sleep until 11.

Once I actually got to Vaden, things went very smoothly and quickly. I checked in on the computer (very easy, very fast) and I was only sitting in the waiting room for about 30 seconds when I was admitted into one of the examination rooms. The nurse asked me intelligent questions, took my vitals, and I only had to wait two minutes before the (very handsome and younger-looking-than-usual male) doctor came in to finish the interrogation. I told him my story, we decided on a treatment plan (Well, Jenny, it’s not one of your worst cases of bronchitis. I think we should hold of on the antibiotics. Why don’t you just take Tylenol to make yourself feel better until your body just naturally kicks this thing?), and my CA took me back to bed. All very productive, I must say.

We’ve all heard the quintessential Vaden story about how the first question you get asked when the nurse checks you in is Are you pregnant? – whether you’re a guy or a girl. I want to stand up for once and say that story is B.S. Nobody asked me straight out whether I was pregnant – they did it in a much nicer way: When was your last period? … Just in case I “forgot” that I might be pregnant. Anyways, I’ve never heard one of my guy friends tell a version of this story, so I’m pretty sure that the nursing staff knows what they’re doing. And at least they’re nice about it.

But truly, there is not much I can complain about when it comes to my treatment at Vaden. When I asked him about his opinion, I think Jon put it very nicely: “You know, for once I really can't complain that much. Every time I've been in there, they have offered free (or very low cost) care to me immediately. Once when I had the stomach flu they even admitted me for several hours. Moreover, they offer free sexual health screenings, which everyone should take advantage of, and they have a very nice facility. I've heard rumors of the incompetence of the staff in the past, but from my experiences I would say that's not the case.”

Well-put, Jon. Thanks for brining up the issue of cost, too. For all my friends who have Cardinal Care, getting treated at Vaden is easy, and filling prescriptions at the little pharmacy is even simpler. I don’t have Cardinal Care because I’m still on my parent’s health insurance plan, so Vaden won’t fill my prescriptions. I end up begging a ride from one of my friends so I can go to Long’s and wait in their slow line to get my meds – but at least there’s one close to west campus we can drive to.

And what about the other services at Vaden? In my opinion, the SHPRC is one of the greatest things that Stanford has to offer. They hire very nice, very knowledgeable students to sit in that little room on the second floor and help you pick out condoms. Thanks, Stanford.

Also, CAPS offers free counseling to students with experienced staff and well-trained peer-counselors. Sarah brought up a good point about CAPS when I asked for her opinion: “…students are only able to have 10 sessions with CAPS for the FOUR years that they are here. That is pretty crazy, especially because mental health is such a serious concern. We definitely want to see the policies changed so that students have more sessions with a counselor.” Does Stanford think that I am going to be magically cured from my childhood trauma during just ten meetings with a CAPS counselor? Probably not. Maybe they want me to pay more money if I am unstable enough to need more help than that, but I agree with Sarah that Stanford should offer more support.

So… to sum up:

• The nights / weekends services at Vaden could use some beefing-up
• Vaden is far away from west campus – sick people shouldn’t have to ride the marguerite, ride their bikes, or beg their friends for rides to the doctor. I vote for a golf cart service to/from Vaden appointments!
• Vaden doctors are friendly and professional. The facility is clean and easy to navigate.
• CardinalCare makes it easy to get prescriptions filled at Vaden, but they are not very receptive to other insurance carriers.
• SHPRC rocks – everyone should take advantage of the free sexual health screenings at Vaden.
• CAPS is great – as long as you can be cured in ten sessions.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this post possible. Please feel free to add your comments on this blog so we can continue the conversation about What Stanford Jews Think About Vaden.

If you have ideas for future posts, or if you want to write one of your own, please let me know!!

Here’s to a healthy quarter,

~ Jenny