On Wednesday, February 15th, Health Promotions Western hosted their annual Get Tested Western event. Each year, they aim to break the world record for most STI tests in 12 hours, and this year their goal was to administer 1,000 STI tests. They ended the night at 1,053 STI tests.
Credit: Health Promotions Western
I went with friends and got tested, and was shocked at how painless the process was. We each filled out a form with our name and telephone number, and were given a cup and told where to drop it off and where to get our free t-shirts afterwards. That was it. I could not believe how different and easy this experience was compared to my experience getting tested at Student Health.
I had made an appointment to get a prescription refilled, and when I went in and was talking to the doctor, I asked for an STI test. I’ve never gotten tested at school, because my gynecologist at home tests me every time I go in, whether I’m sexually active or not—we don’t even talk about it, they just give me the cup and I do it and that’s that.
So as the doctor was writing my prescription, I said that I wanted to get a test done. Her whole demeanor changed. She started asking me questions: “Why do you want a test? Do you think you have something? When was the last time you were sexually active? Did you use a condom? Do you use one every time? You know that if you do have something, we have to call your past partners and tell them, right?” I kind of chuckled, raised my eyebrows, and told her that none of this was really her business…at all. She wasn’t my regular doctor, and all I was asking for was a routine STI test, not a kidney. I left with everything I needed, and confused by my experience. I asked my friends if they had been asked all those questions when they had gone in to get tested. Everyone was shocked—no one had ever been asked anything like that when they went in for a test; they were just given a test and told “good on you for getting tested.”
We’ve talked before at HCWO about the flaws with Student Health, and we’ve talked about how to improve them. And on a college campus especially, if students want to get STI testing, they should be rewarded for that, and not questioned and intimidated in a way that will deter them from getting tested again in the future.