Assignment 7A

Alteration of University of Florida's Student Health Care System
Opportunity: The University of Florida could alter the UF Health system through incorporating psychology and mental health cohesively with general medicine

• The who: Doctors, patients, and students of UF Health 
• The what: Unifying physical and mental health 
• The why: An opportunity to improve how the health care system functions in the effort to meet the physical and mental needs of each patient. 
• Testing the who: The “who” is not limited to University of Florida; however, it has to start somewhere and UF could be one of the first places to adopt a more holistic approach to medicine. However, I think that the majority of the “who” are people that can see the importance of mental and physical health but, the people that do not recognize the significance of this, could possibly benefit the most. 
• Testing the what: A program could be developed to integrate mental and physical health care. 
• Testing the why: Mental health is not valued the same as physical health because it's not visible or tangible. 

Interview #1:
In this interview, a student agreed that the general student population could have a better overall disposition. She also felt as though the UF mental health care is free and all but, there needs to be better training and active help for students dealing with things like depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Her personal experiences with UF's mental health network has been a negative one.

Interview #2:
This interview was conducted with a student who volunteers at the Counseling and Wellness Center; whose name will not be mentioned. She also mentioned that this is a great idea because mental health is often forgotten about, and stated the that "it is flawed," talking about the system currently in place.

Interview #3:
I made sure to conduct this interview with a doctor, who chooses to remain anonymous. He suggested that this might be difficult to implement at once, however, over a period of time with new types of training it could be possible. He said, "the patient knows their body best," so it is important to listen and act accordingly.

Interview #4:
This interviewee is a young female in college, that had a very interesting experience at UF Health. After she went there for a sprained ankle and came out with a broken foot because of inadequate treatment, among a myriad of stories about harmful experiences with doctors.

Interview #5:
This interview consisted of another student, double majoring in majoring in health disparities and psychology, He suggested that a biopsychosocial approach is arguably one of the best approaches in medicine, and that his could definitely be a step in that direction. Propelling medicine towards a holistic approach where doctors and patients collaborate.

Reflection: I learned that some of the student population has had a negative experience with the health care offered at UF, prompting the opportunity for a new integrated method to health care. I agree that it will probably take time to develop a program like this and implementing it would be even longer but, it shows there could be a need for this type of change.