The dental room is plumbed and the electrical ready for use as a clinic. The dentist who originally volunteered to provide services had a change of plans and is now studying in the United States. Forman is currently looking for another dentist to take his place. When the staffing issue is resolved, this room will be the dental clinic it was meant to be. Until then, it is being used by Mercy Health Center and University Counseling Center as a meeting space and for visiting clinics. For example, a cardiologist comes to Forman each semester to offer screenings free of charge to faculty and staff. Additionally, there are several local hospitals who come to FCC for blood drives and other health related events.
Our University Counseling Center has been surprisingly well received. They offer the kinds of personal services not often used by students in Pakistan. We believe that the difference is that our services are offered in the spirit of the campus motto, “by love, serve one another,” extending the grace of God’s love to all who come in need. The staff consists of an office manager, 3 full-time counselors and 2 part-time counselors. They provide individual and group sessions as well as support groups on topics including smoking cessation and anger management. Each counselor has an office, plus use of dedicated meeting rooms and training rooms. Training rooms will be used for multiple purposes, including first responder and first aid training. Forman has a large volunteer first responder program made up of students.
In addition to individual/group counseling sessions and support groups, UCC presents programs on a variety of topics all aimed at making FCC students the most confident and capable they can be as they ready themselves for life beyond Forman. A recent topic was Self Confidence, Public Speaking and Presentation Skills. The speaker, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Forman, is now employed by TNS Beaconhouse, a Pakistan-based teacher training company whose philosophies are based in experiential learning and critical thinking rather than the rote memorization often seen in Pakistani state education. During her presentation, she took questions from the attending students, helping them to find solutions for dealing with stage fright, confidence, and communication issues.
While all of this is going on upstairs, downstairs in Mercy Health Center the focus is taking care of the physical health of students, staff and family. Medical personnel are available Monday through Friday, and they deal with day-to-day illnesses and accidents, make referrals for larger issues, teach preventative care, give inoculations and help keep FCC’s youngest community members on track by establishing and maintaining health records on the very young children of staff and faculty who spend their days in the on-campus day care center.
Mercy Health Center and University Counseling Center combined see a minimum of 50 patients a day. Without the generosity of Noroton Presbyterian Church and Blessings International, Forman Christian College would not have this remarkable expanded facility, and could not effectively care for the needs of this diverse community. We remain grateful for their generosity and belief in the importance of these services on the Forman Christian College campus.