More than scrapes and colds are treated at the Thielen Student Health Center, and student groups help the center’s office that is devoted to health education and prevention.

“My job is to put together programs that will impact students,” said Brian Dunn, program coordinator for the Student Health Center.

One of the ways the health center educates students is through “Social Norms” projects, which include Alcohol Norms and Tobacco Norms. The projects include campaigns such as the “Most of Us” ads aimed at dispelling myths about student drinking.

The Alcohol Norms Project is organized with the help of the Department of Public Safety and Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention Department, while the Tobacco Norms Project is a collaborative effort with Youth and Shelter Services.

Another part of the health center’s efforts to educate the student population is through outreach programs. The center recently sponsored the Safe Spring Break Beach Party and distributed kits that included sunscreen, condoms, bandages and bookmarks containing information on driving fatigue and date-rape drugs.

The center also reaches out to the student body through two student groups – Students to Students and The Student Health Advisory Committee.

Students to Students is a small group of student volunteers who act as peer educators. Dunn said that while there have been peer educator groups in the past, they were less active in recent years.

“We combined several student groups into one,” said Rebecca Fredrick, student adviser for Students to Students.

Most of the programs the group is involved in related to safer sex, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, though it also offers programs dealing with alcohol and diversity, Fredrick said.

“We send out information to the RAs and the greek system about our programs,” she said.

This year, the group has also started a program called “Don’t Cancel Class,” in which members talk to classes at the instructor’s request, Fredrick said.

The other peer group, the Student Health Advisory Committee, helps the health center coordinate educational activities, such as Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

During that week, various organizations set up booths to offer information about eating disorders, as “sort of a mini-health fair,” Dunn said.

The advisory committee’s main responsibility is to advise the health center on issues that affect students. Recently, the committee worked with the Inter-Residence Hall Association in the campaign to place condoms in the vending machines in residence halls.

“Student groups can’t replace professionals, but we help supplement the professionals and help make health education more effective,” Fredrick said.

Dunn said the student groups make the information normally presented by professionals more accessible to their peers.

“[They] make it much more palatable for the students,” Dunn said.

“With the limited time and resources they have, I think they do a wonderful job.”