For women living on campus without an accessible vehicle, it is difficult to get to a clinic that provides essential services for women.
However, female students do not realize that they don’t have to look far, because there happens to be a Women’s Clinic right on campus.
The Clinic is located in the Health Center near Dolan Hall, with Joanne Wynne as the Women’s Clinical doctor. Open on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Clinic is there to provide women on campus with specific health needs.
The Women’s Clinic provides services, such as physical exams, screening and pap smears. Along with physical demands, the clinic also provides accurate medical information and an environment where women can discuss any concerns that they have.
Julia Duffy, Director of the student Health Center, said that the most common issues have to do with general women’s health concerns that students, ranging from late teen years to early twenties, have on their minds.
“Everything is completely confidential, and nothing is released,” said Duffy. “Questions come up because we’re Catholic, like ‘How do you run a clinic?’ Some services we cannot provide, but we do address questions, sexuality and body concerns. Anything you can think of. We even test for transmitted diseases.”
Duffy said that the Women’s Clinic has been around since she started working at Fairfield University in 1994. Despite being around for several years, many students on campus are unaware of the clinic.
“I didn’t know about it,” said Julianne McGrath ‘13. “I think it should be advertised to the freshmen so they know that it’s there from the very start. Then they can access it for their four years.”
“I knew Fairfield had a Health Center, but I didn’t know there was a Women’s Clinic,” said Catherine Martel ’13. “It’s a great idea to have a clinic, especially because most students don’t have a car, which makes getting medical care difficult.”
On the contrary, Duffy describes the Women’s Clinic as usually booked both days out of the week that Wynne provides her services. When appointments are made, there is usually a 7 to 10 day wait, unless it’s an emergency.
Duffys says that, due to the large Fairfield University female population, there are many young women with concerns. She says that it’s extremely difficult to get to the gynecologist, so it is much better to have the clinic on campus.
“I think it’s fair that there’s a women’s clinic because there’s a need for it,” said Robert Vogel ’13. “A male clinic should exist only from demand of male population, not just to create a gender balance. I think there only needs to be one if there is a demand.”
The Clinic in the Health Center of Dolan Hall offers free services to women at Fairfield University. Joanne Wynne is available for appointments Tuesdays and Thursday from 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m.
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