The start of the new semester can be demanding for students. This, coupled with bad weather and the additional stress of spending a month's worth of food money on textbooks, can be a real pain in the neck - and back and shoulders.
Health Services is now prepared to help students take care of these pains.
Since Monday, UB's Student Health Office began offering students the chance to receive chiropractic care on campus. The new service, provided by trained interns of the New York Chiropractic College (NYCC), is free of charge to all registered students.
UB's health officials said they think the service will be popular among students.
"Basically, the announcement from our end is that students at our university, as well as other universities have been starting to use complimentary medical services in addition to the traditional services offered," said Dr. Frank Carnevale, director of health services. "And to that end, chiropractic services have been an area of increased interest for students."
The fact is, demand for chiropractic services is currently high, and many of the people who use these services are college-aged, according to the International Chiropractors Association. The practice is one of the fastest growing health care professions, with tens of millions of Americans seeking routine chiropractic care.
To allow students the advantage of chiropractic care without the hassle of leaving campus or paying high fees, the university began looking into ways to bring this service to UB.
"We started to explore the possibility of partnering with NYCC, and over the past several months have worked out this arrangement that will greatly benefit the UB population," said Carnevale. "These services will add to services we currently offer at Michael Hall, specifically on Monday and Wednesday afternoons."
Care for students will be provided by senior chiropractic interns from the college, each supervised by a licensed chiropractor. Students can now contact Health Services at 829-3316 to schedule appointments.
For people who currently pay to make regular chiropractic visits to local chiropractors, this new service is a gift.
"I have been seeing a chiropractor for two years now because I was having multiple back spasms. I couldn't sleep at night or go for extended periods of time without discomfort," said Sarah Pietsch, a junior math major.
Pietsch said regularly traveling off campus for doctor's appointments wasn't easy her freshman and sophomore years at school. She looks forward to taking advantage of the free services, which are conveniently located on South Campus.
"If I hadn't had a car I would have had no other way to get to my appointments, and my insurance wasn't accepted so I had to pay out of the pocket," she said. "I used to go every day, but I honestly haven't been to the chiropractor in a while because it cost me about $250 a month. On top of everything else, that's a lot of money."
Even for those who have never seen, or considered seeing, a chiropractor, the free appointments at Michael Hall provide students with the opportunity to try something new.
It is now easy for anyone at UB with an aching back or even spinal injury to see if a chiropractic visit can be beneficial.
"I've never been to the chiropractor, but I've always wanted to go to one," said Amanda Hanks, a senior management major. "I'll take advantage of this. I think there's a bunch of stuff offered for students on campus that we don't know about, this being one example."
Even students who don't see themselves ever using the service admitted that it seemed beneficial to the UB community.
"I would never to go to a chiropractor myself, but I think it's good that UB offers these different types of opportunities for students," said Martin Seggio, a senior chemical engineering major. "It's obviously not a bad thing to have, even if I won't use it."
Dr. Carnevale said the agreement between UB and NYCC is a winning situation for everyone.
"It helps NYCC; their students get practical experience and the opportunity to work alongside practitioners in a medical setting, and it helps us because we are exposed to an area of complimentary medicine and it enriches our practice of medicine. Students win with a free service right on campus," he said. "We hope this will be a well-utilized and appreciated service."
Sarah Pietsch said she already plans on making frequent visits to Michael Hall.
"I will be there all the time," said Pietsch. "It's definitely something I will take advantage of, and I'm sure other people will take advantage of it too, especially if it's a free service to students."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
