Women’s History Month: resources

With Women’s History Month underway, university officials say it is important for women to take care of their health and celebrate their achievements. 

Whether it is a health need or a desire to learn about their gender’s achievements, UTRGV offers a variety of resources for women.

UT Health RGV Student Health provides health care resources by providing accessible, confidential and cost-effective women’s health services.

“We have what’s called a women’s health package, which includes some laboratory work and some education and the woman’s first exam or follow-up exam as recommended by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology,” said Rick Gray, a registered nurse and director of Health Services. “We also have [an] in-house pharmacy that supplies most contraceptives for a minimal price.”

UT Health RGV Student Health provides Pap smears, family planning education and counseling, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy testing.

Gray said most of the services are inexpensive.

“They are not completely free, but most of these services are marginal cost because we only charge for labs or pharmacy items that may be needed,” he said.

Gray cited the women’s package as an example. 

 “I think the entire package for women’s exams, we’ll say, a Pap smear and some screening cultures and the blood work is $65,” he said. “Currently, the clinic itself does not accept insurance but, if they want, depending on what their need is, we can refer them to any of the other 25 clinics that the School of Medicine has operating in the area with a specialist that can meet their needs.”

Gray said the clinic does not collect any money since the charges are posted to the student’s account and can be paid through Assist.

Students must schedule an appointment by calling 882-3896 for the clinic in Brownsville, which is located in Cortez Hall 237 on the Texas Southmost College campus, or 665-2511 for the clinic in Edinburg, which is located at 613 N. Sugar Road, next to the UREC.

Gray said it is important for women to learn to take care of their health at an early age to prevent long-term problems. He said the clinic offers free resources that are available for students.

“We have female hygiene products that are here in the clinic,” Gray said. “We also pass them out to other departments on campus. I believe the University Center keeps the stock, and condoms are always free. All you have to do is walk by and pick them up. We have dispensers in the lobby.”

Integrated health science freshman Myriam Delgadillo also said it is important for women to take care of their health.

“I think it’s important for women to take care of their health because it makes us be strong and healthy and we will have the energy to continue going to school and other events,” Delgadillo said. “I saw this sign in my doctor’s office and it said, ‘You are what you eat and depending on what you eat, you’ll feel better about yourself.’”

She said that it is important to know the resources that the school offers since they can help students.

Gray said the UT Health RGV Student Health also provides the 24 Hour Nurse Advice Line.

“The 24 Hour Nurse Advice Line is an after-hours call center, where if a student has a question, they can call [(855) 810-4457],” he said. “[The service] is by a third-party vendor that we contract with and is staffed by registered nurses that we have filled them in on what all of our local resources are.”

Gray said the nurses will help the students during the call.

He said students pay a medical service fee each semester. 

“We never charge an office visit,” Gray said. “All we do is try to recover what it costs us to get lab and pharmacy items done. As their clinic, they should use it as much as they need.”

For more information, visit the UT Health RGV Student Health website.

Library resources

This month, the University Library will organize events, discussions and resources for women. 

The library will host a Get Lit! Bring Your Own Book club at 3:30 p.m. March 24 via Zoom, where students can share their book recommendations for Women’s History Month. Throughout the month, the library will display a collection of posters on both campuses that include short film recommendations, QR codes for streaming videos, ebooks, print books, juvenile books and regional material.

“We have a LibGuide that we created for Women’s History Month and in it, we kind of are showcasing some of the different types of resources,” said Raquel Estrada, Acquisition & Collection Development librarian. “We have ebooks, print books, streaming media, examples of some of our databases and journals [and] examples of some of our regional materials.”

She said the purpose of the LibGuide is to inspire personal growth, personal development and stimulate intellectual curiosity in students. For more information, visit the library website.

“It helps [to] understand the history of, you know, where we have been, where we are going,” Estrada said.

“During Women’s History Month, we want to showcase some of what we have because there could be someone that might be interested in, maybe, a particular topic, and they don’t know that we have materials in that particular topic, or they may be interested in maybe reading something for leisure.”

Estrada said it is important to celebrate the achievements of women.

“I think as a woman, it is important to celebrate International Women’s Day, because, again, it goes back to all of the history that has happened to women, and how far we’ve come along,” she said. “This should be for all women in every part of the world. You know, some of them are still struggling. So, you know, it’s always good to show support.”