School-Based Clinics

What are school-based clinics? How do they affect teachers? Teacher Talk asked these questions to Emily Alpert, M.S.W., a Health Center Coordinator in Dallas, Texas and the Director of the Young Adult Clinic. She coordinates sixteen school-based clinics in the Dallas area and believes that "school-based clinics make it easier for teens to stay healthy and to stay in school."

Although the school-based clinics vary in staffing, facilities, funding, and types of services offered, typically a clinic employs a nurse-practitioner, a medical assistant, and a social worker. Some clinic personnel stay at one school while others visit different schools on a pre-determined schedule.

The services that a clinic offers may include immunizations, physical examinations, general medical evaluations, family planning counseling, and contraceptive distribution. The clinic's staff is qualified to administer more health care services than the traditional school nurse can provide. The schools decide which services are offered in each clinic. In addition, each student presents a permission form, signed by the parent(s), that lists the services that the student may access. When students inquire about family planing counseling or contraceptives, the school-based clinic may refer the student to other services in the community.

This system allows students to have easy access to primary health care providers. But how does this relate to teachers? It helps them in several ways. First, many students visit the clinic with non-specific symptoms. The clinic's staff has the opportunity to inquire about possible psychosocial stressors the may relate to the student's complaints. In this way, the clinic's staff members are able to help the students by identifying deeper interpersonal or ontrapersonal problems that otherwise might be overlooked. Teachers can also refer students to the clinic if they suspect the student is having some type of difficulty.

The clinics can also facilitate the entry of new students into the classroom. New students are able to receive immunizations and/or physicals more quickly. Thus, lost school days are minimized. If a student does visit the clinic, he or she is often able to return to classes the same day, reducing absenteeism. Finally, the clinic staff acts as a resource to teachers for health education and human sexuality questions and curriculum. Often clinic staff will work actively with teachers in planning and presenting curriculum.