Students in need of medical attention may be relieved to know that the staff at the Health Center are professional doctors who have been practicing for many years and not recent medical school graduates who are using SF State as their medical residency.
According to the director of the Student Health Center, Dr. Myra Lappin,. M.D., they are a group of men and women who have been practicing in the medical field for at least three years in various areas of medicine.
A staff of 15 full-time and part-time doctors who are supported by three nurse practitioners and 11 nurses run the center.
In addition to their full-time staff, an allergist, podiatrist, dermatologist and sports medicine physicians from various Bay Area hospitals go to the Health Center once a week to serve students with special medical needs.
The staff is selected according to a set of guidelines provided to the Health Center by the California State University system that emphasizes previous experience working with adolescents and young adults.
At SF State a physician must have certification in a specialized area of medicine, or obtain certification within two years of being hired in adolescent medicine/pediatrics, internal medicine or family practice.
For example, if a doctor wanted to be an interdisciplinary specialist -- a doctor which covers all areas of the body -- he or she must be certified through the Board of Internal Medicine, an independent professional organization, to be able to work at any student health center.
Although the guidelines for all student health centers in the CSU system are similar, they do vary a bit from university to university.
Lappin and a team of three to five doctors followed these guidelines to interview eight promising doctors for two positions at the Health Center. In August of this year, the center chose Dr. Nubia Medina, to work in the urgent care and women's health clinics.
Medina comes to SF State from San Francisco General Hospital where she worked for 10 years including her residency. She had been director of the Family Health Center for the last few years before deciding to apply at the center.
She grew up in San Francisco's Mission's District where she volunteered at community clinics and worked with many women from the Latino community as both patients and mentors.
"I felt strongly about women's health because I worked a lot in the community and I was exposed to their health needs," Medina said.
After working as director for a few years, she felt a need to return to working with patients.
"I enjoyed what I was doing, but I didn't want to lose the reason I decided to practice medicine: to serve my community."
[ Golden Gater - November 7, 1996 ]
All Rights Reserved © 1996 HTML by Steve Thoemke (sthoemke@nermal.santarosa.edu)