As the cold weather settles in, it’s hard to ignore the increasing number of sniffles emerging in the classroom. For students living in residence halls and attending crowded classes, the close environment at NIU can make it all too easy for a common cold to spread. It’s our duty to others to keep ourselves healthy — a yearly checkup can help with this!

With so many people in one place, it’s no surprise that catching a cold seems inevitable as the season shifts. Visiting a clinic for a yearly checkup should be something that all college students do. Virtua Health, an academic non-profit healthcare system in southern New Jersey, informs that physicals can point to underlying conditions like heart disease and diabetes, even if no symptoms are showing. Speaking to a primary care provider can also provide recommendations for follow-up testing, as well as lifestyle, exercise, or diet changes that can help you improve or maintain health.  

In the United States, it’s pretty common to react to illness instead of reducing the chances of it getting to us. In fact, 40% of Americans report skipping a recommended medical test or treatment according to a national poll from NORC University of Chicago and West Health Institute. This can increase medical costs in the future and heighten chances of being admitted to emergency rooms. With yearly check ups being easy to schedule at NIU, all students should take advantage of the local clinic on campus. 

Working with health care providers like nurses and doctors can be especially helpful while in college. Most college students are at the age where we are starting to take on more independence than ever – especially concerning healthcare. 

Tanya Tanzillo is a professor of nursing at NIU as well as a practicing clinician. She believes that visiting a healthcare provider can help students transition into adulthood. 

“We’re not under mom and dad’s wing anymore,” Tanzillo said. “You’re becoming a young adult for the most part. And if you can work with a healthcare provider a lot of the times they can provide some insight to kind of maybe manage stress a little bit better, ways to maybe improve your eating habits, ways to make sure that you’re getting good sleep, and just kind of ways to kind of maintain your health moving forward.” 

Visiting a doctor or a nurse may offer students a support system concerning physical and mental health. This can be nice to lean on when living alone for the first time. 

Making an appointment can also help students find a health care provider that they sincerely connect with. It can be particularly useful to have this contact if a health issue comes up or you have a question about health that only a specialist can answer. 

“That’s probably an additional benefit to doing those physicals, is really having someone that you feel like really knows you,” Tanzillo said.

Understanding the benefits of preventative medicine can be healthy motivation to get a yearly checkup. 

“What they (yearly checkups) kind of give the providers and the patients is an opportunity to really focus on what we call preventative medicine’’ said Tanzillo. 

Tanzillo shares how preventative medicine can help with future plans that will require medical support. 

“In a young woman, maybe she wants to, you know, become pregnant, and then the next couple of years, you know, share some ways (with a primary care provider) to make sure that their bodies are healthy, to be able to do that,” Tanzillo said. 

As we freshly enter adulthood, time will pass, and we will get older and encounter health struggles alongside changes to our bodies. 

Getting checkups is a step toward being the healthiest we can be and being able to overcome struggles that could come our way. 

To schedule an appointment at NIU health clinic, students can call 815-306-2777 or schedule online. This is a good option for students with NIU’s insurance or Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. 

For those holding insurance coverage from other providers, check out your provider’s websites for eligible clinicians near DeKalb or call the number on your insurance card for assistance. 

Beat the cold this fall, get a checkup and stay healthy!