Primary Care for Kids Away at College
A few months ago my son broke his arm and since he was a plane ride away and it happened on a Friday of a holiday weekend, his only option was to go to the ER. It became really clear how helpful it would be to have someone who can provide care and guidance for kids like him who are away from home. Kids don’t really have the network or connections to find local resources when something happens, so having a primary care provider who can help remotely can make a huge difference.
This is the time of year that parents are preparing for their kids to come home from college for break, and part of that often includes making sure to squeeze in doctor visits while they are home.
Depending on how far out the scheduling lead time is, you may be lucky to get them in with your current primary care before they have to leave to go back to school.
And maybe that works as well as you can expect. But what if you want better care that is more convenient, especially if illness or injury pops up while they are back at school?
As a dad, I’ve dealt with trying to find care for my kids because they didn’t have access to their regular doctor, either because of an acute need, or distance, or both. It can be frustrating and worrisome.
So, one thing I’m really happy to offer is care for adolescents and young adults as part of family primary care. When a household has 1 or more adult enrolled as a patient with me, they can also add dependent kids for $25 per child. We see dependent kids, starting at age 13 all the way up to age 25, for this fee.
I think we can offer college kids some really great care.
Availability
Because the practice is small, we have availability much sooner than most primary care offices. This means if your child calls you sick or injured, we can pretty quickly identify the best course of action, whether it’s sending in a prescription, setting up an appointment, or advising them to seek local care if necessary.
Accessibility
We are set up to provide virtual appointments and care so we can have appointments without them having to step foot in the office, especially if they won’t be home any time soon or they are sick.
Continuity of Care
Instead of a hodgepodge of medical records across a handful of places, like student health services, urgent cares and maybe a couple of specialists, we have all of their health history in their file and can provide care that takes all their medical history into account.
Mental Health Support
Late teen/early adult years is the time that a lot of people can find themselves needing support for mental health. Whether it’s depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc., finding providers willing to prescribe can be a significant challenge, especially in a new city. But we can also coordinate all of this, also.
If you are looking for care your family, including college-age kids, I think we can be a great fit for you. If you’re not already a Nexus patient, you can fill out our interest form.
Or if you are already an adult patient of ours and looking to add your kid(s), it’s as easy as calling or sending us a text at (314) 464-9333. We’ll get them added and set up a time to do a new patient appointment with them.
