Courtney Mili ‘22 is a student intern at Health & Wellness.
What is Health & Wellness?
You’re anticipating your first year at college and beyond – and that likely involves thinking about how you’ll be supported in living a healthy lifestyle at UNH. If you haven’t heard about UNH’s Health & Wellness office or want to learn more about its wide range of programs, you’re in the right place.
When students, faculty, or staff feel sick, Health & Wellness is typically the first line they call. However, they are so much more than that. Filled with amazing, dedicated staff, Health & Wellness provides medical services, wellness education and counseling, and public health expertise.
I talked recently with Courtney Mili ’22, a student intern with Health & Wellness, about how incoming students can make the most of everything they offer – and get a healthy start to college.
What resources and programs do they offer?
In addition to comprehensive health care services, they provide wellness coaching, counseling, and health education programs.
- Wellness coaching can help students with issues like sleep, stress, sexual well-being, relationships, communication, and more.
- Nutrition Education/Counseling is provided by a registered dietitian for nutrition, body image, and eating concerns-related issues.
- Alcohol, Nicotine, and Other Drug Educator/Counselors can help with substance use concerns.
What other services should students know about?
Courtney explained that there are a multitude of services offered by Health & Wellness that students should know about, including but not limited to its pharmacy, laboratory, and radiology services, allergy clinic, and immunizations and travel clinic. The pharmacy at UNH is somewhat hidden and unknown to many students, but Courtney advises that it is less expensive than other local pharmacies, as they may have the same medicine at a lower cost. The immunization and travel clinic provides different vaccinations that you would need for school and traveling; it is especially useful for students getting ready for study abroad.
What are some examples of “Living Well” appointments?
Courtney mentioned that her favorite program is massage therapy, an integrative mind-body service where you can relieve your stress and increase relaxation through either a traditional massage or a stone massage offered at a low cost for students. More mind-body services include biofeedback, light therapy, and guided meditation classes. Courtney explained that Health & Wellness also does giveaways, and she once won a free certificate for a free massage.
How can students make an appointment with Health & Wellness?
The MyHealth&Wellness website is an online portal for managing all your personal health forms and requirements. Through it, students can make appointments, access health history and immunization records, connect with Health & Wellness staff, view financial information, and so on. Appointments do not always have to regard illness or injury; at UNH, Health & Wellness offers COVID and flu vaccinations, mental and sexual health visits, STI and HIV testing, and many more services.
How can students get involved with Health & Wellness?
On top of this, Health & Wellness offers many student involvement opportunities, including internships or becoming a peer educator.
After hearing about the communications and social media internship at Health & Wellness from a friend, Courtney applied for it on their webpage. Health & Wellness is always searching for more interns, so it is likely that there will be an available role posted on the site each spring semester. She works with two other interns in the same position as her, and some of their responsibilities include managing the social media platforms and keeping up to date with Health & Wellness’ services and upcoming events.
Does Courtney have any advice for incoming students?
It’s important to take care of your physical and mental health while living on campus. Courtney’s advice for creating time for that with a busy course load and an internship is to “go on a walk, hang with friends, journal, and take care of yourself. Self-care looks different from day-to-day, do what works the best for you.”
The details
The main Health & Wellness building is located at 4 Pettee Brook Lane at the heart of campus. They are open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. They also have a satellite office called Thrive located on the second floor of the Hamel Recreation Center; this is where they host events and workshops, as well as many of their Living Well appointments. Information about emergency and after-hours care can be found here.
