Allison Barton: Hi my name is Allison Barton and I'm the health
educator at Moorpark College Student Health Center.
I'd like to tell you a little bit about the health
center because a lot of students are unaware of
its existence even when we are all physically on
campus. The student health center is in the Admin.
building between the Performing Arts Center and
Fountain Hall. This is the view of the Admin
Building from Raider Walk, with our sign in the
foreground. Just walk up the stairs and go in the
door. You could even take the ramp located to the
left from the perspective of this photo. When you
walk in the door you'll see the health center.
It's the first door on the left. Many students
don't realize that they actually pay a health fee
each term, and that entitles you to use an array
of services including medical, mental health, and
wellness services. We have a professional staff
that includes a physician, a nurse practitioner,
registered nurses, and medical assistance. And we
have a fairly large mental health
staff as well including a psychologist, marriage
and family counselors, and post-doctoral trainees
offering short-term counseling to any thing that
you'd go to see your doctor about, you could come
and see us for. Most of our services are free, all
treatment is confidential, and is in no way
connected with your school record. To make an
appointment, and you do need an appointment for
most services, you just call the number on the
screen: (805) 378-1413
This is our waiting area. Notice the
bins between the window and the door. This is our
"Self-Care Center" and in it you'll find
over-the-counter pain relievers cough drops
allergy medication band aids and more. We also
have free condoms and lube. They're found in the
basket just below the bins. And we have great lip
balm. You paid for it with your health fee so take
advantage! We also have paper and pen for you to
write out concerns to our receptionist, if you
feel more comfortable writing rather than saying
what's on your mind. Because of the Covid-9
pandemic the Student Health Center now offers most
services with their providers via tele-health.
Making tele-health appointments is the same as
making in-person appointments. Just call the
number on your screen or visit the MC Student
Health Center webpage to get started. Note: you
will need to complete all of your paperwork online
prior to your appointment and plan for privacy for
the length of your appointment.
So this is just a reminder that the Moorpark
College campus is one hundred percent tobacco free.
If you need help quitting vaping smoking or
chewing contact the student health center for an
appointment.
You may see this emblem in office windows if
you're on campus or syllabi or e-mail signatures.
It denotes that the person displaying it has been
trained as an LGBTQ+ ally, and as a safe first
person for you to talk to regardless of your
gender or sexual orientation. There's a link to
the SAFEZONE website from the Student Health
Center website. There you'll find lots of on- and
off-campus resources for LGBTQ+ people and
their allies.
I mentioned wellness services earlier, and one
of those is free mindfulness training. So when
we're on campus we have in-person sessions. But we
also have an online version. And I want
you to see how to find it. So first you're
going to go to the MC website and scroll down to
the bottom until you see these buttons. You're
going to click on the health center button and
that will take you to our page. And then just by
scrolling down the menu here you'll find
mindfulness training online. And you click on that.
And that takes you right to our Mindfulness
Training page. There's a helpful "Getting Started"
link, and then after that you'll see each and
every one of our eight sessions with a
corresponding button. Each session teaches a
different technique for mindfulness training and
all of them are helpful. Some people find that
some techniques are work better for them than
others. So there are just lots of lots of
different ones. So try starting from the beginning
and if you don't like it try a different one. What
we've found is that many of our students really find
it helpful as far as focusing on school work or in
class. It helps with kind of maintaining healthy
relationships. And it also helps you manage stress
and even other medical conditions or mental health
conditions. Many of our students are finding that
life during Covid-19 is adding even more stress
and finding that practicing mindfulness helps them
cope better with the current realities. So to
recap the Moorpark College Student Health Center
is ready to help you with a wide variety of
medical, mental health, and health education
services for all enrolled students, most of which
are delivered via tele-health. Please take
advantage. If you have any questions for me, I can
be reached by email at abarton@vcccd.edu,
or call the Student Health Center.
We're there for you and ready to help. Thank you so
much for your time!