Revived Student Group To Advise Health Services

Hoping to improve the communication of student concerns to the staff of the University Health Services (UHS), the Undergraduate Council has revived the Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC) this month after a four-year hiatus.

SHAC, a sub-committee of the council's services committee, last week published the first issue since 1987 of its health newsletter, The Pulse.

Former Council Chair Evan B. Rauch '91 said that SHAC fell into dormancy after its original members graduated. He said the committee is intended to serve as the "official student voice at the UHS," and to deal with minor student complaints and bureaucratic problems.

"If you are vaguely unhappy, you come to the SHAC," he said, adding that students with complaints of a more serious nature should go to the patient advocate at UHS.

According to Amy H. Mezulis '94, who will chair the committee along with Elizabeth R. Caputo '94 next fall, SHAC was created to interview primary care doctors and to establish better communication between patients, doctors and UHS officials.

"Students felt that UHS was not listening to what they wanted," she said.

Rauch said that SHAC members will also host tables in dining halls to educate students about health concerns.

In a statement printed in The Pulse, UHS Patient Advocate Mary Henderson said that the Undergra- duate Council and SHAC "serve a vital role in helping the University Health Services administration stay informed and current as to the needs of our consumers and the quality of the care and the service we are delivering."

Rauch said that SHAC was originally created when former Council Vice Chair Noam H. Bramson '90 broke a tooth falling off a loading truck and received different diagnoses from UHS and the Massachusetts General Hospital. The council's decision to set up a health services committee was "virtually a result" of Bramson's experience, Rauch said