Melanie Cole (Host): MedLinks are students just like you and serve as liaisons between undergraduate students and MIT Health.  Welcome to Conversations with MIT Health. I’m Melanie Cole. My guest today is Greg Baker. As part of the community wellness team at MIT Health, he coordinates MedLinks.  Welcome to the show, Greg.  So what is MedLinks, and what do they do on campus?

Greg Baker (Guest):  Thanks for having me, Melanie, and you already talked a little bit about what MedLinks do for the MIT student community.  We have about 150 undergraduate student volunteers, and they are keeping us informed about what is happening in their dorms and fraternities and sororities and independent living groups.  We get to share information with them, and they can disseminate that to their fellow residents.  The MedLinks program really has two main components.  The first is that we have our student volunteers, and they host or coordinate study breaks or lectures or whatever event that they think might be necessary either to promote the group or to highlight a particular topic if there’s something going on on campus or they want to bring awareness to a new issue.  You know, MedLinks can do that either where they live or for the entire community as a whole, and the other thing that they do is that they have one-on-one interactions where they live on campus.  So, the volunteers get a box of supplies that has some first-aid things, some over-the-counter medications, pretty basic stuff and, you know, the MedLinks can be a first stop for a student that has a question or a concern about something that's happening, maybe to them, to a friend, you know,  whoever and with that, we're kind of hoping that you, you know, establish a rapport with the people around you so if you felt comfortable going to somebody for a Band-Aid maybe if you were having another situation, you might go back to that same person since you’ve already built a connection with them.  So, sort of community-wide health events and targeted one-on-one interaction in the residences.

Melanie:  How are MedLinks unique as compared to other support services on campus?

Greg:  So, at many schools there are many students that live in dormitories called resident assistants and they're usually other undergraduate students.  MIT's kind of unique in that that role here is usually filled by graduate students that are called graduate resident tutors.  Some of these people have partners, have kids and, you know, it's great that they are there because they have a lot of experience dealing with certain things and, you know, maybe just, by the nature of being a little older, they have more wisdom or insight into particular situations, but I think MedLinks works well because, like you said, MedLinks are students like you. They live in the same place that you do; they understand the culture of where you live.  They take the same classes.  They eat in the same cafeteria.  So, you know, it might be nice that there's someone who has those similarities that's in a helping role, and, you know, there might be some situations where you really don't want to talk to somebody who lives next to you or is in the same classes as you and that's why it's great that we have the GRTs, the area directors, the heads of house, and those are just the people who live in the dormitories and in the, you know, residential communities.  There's lots of support structures also outside of the residences as well.  So, I think because there are students like you that makes them unique and sets them apart.  

Melanie:  So as liaisons between undergraduate students and MIT Health, what is involved and what topics are covered in MedLinks training?  

Greg:  So, we have a training where everyone learns about the different services that are at MIT Health. You know, you can come here for primary care.  You can come here for Urgent Care, for a walk-in.  You can come here regardless of what insurance you have.  Most of the things that are covered at MIT Health are paid for by your tuition, essentially, so we always want people to know to come to Medical if they have, you know, an urgent concern.  We teach them about our mental health and counseling service.  We teach them about the alcohol and other drug services available on campus, how to notice if someone is struggling and how you might be able to help them, and starting this past year, we've started doing breakout sessions where people from -- our nutritionist came and talked.  Someone talked about motivational interviewing.  Someone from the conflict resolution office came.  Someone from the recreation office came to talk about exercise.  So, we're trying to fill out the training with topics that are interesting to people and might be things that someone would come to them as volunteers to talk about, and members go through this new member training once when they're in their first semester in the group, and then they go to at least one continuing education session every semester that they're in the group, and I think, literally, one of the main things that we want to leave them with is that thing that we hear on an airplane like make sure that you have your oxygen mask on before you help someone else.  I think that applies with MedLinks volunteers as well.  They, you know, they like to look out for each other, and it's great that they want to look out for each other, but if they are not able to prioritize their own self and their own needs, then, you know, they're not really helping themselves and they're not really being the best that they can be for others, so, giving them the confidence to know when it's something that they can handle and when it's something they should feel comfortable sending on to someone else.  That's something that we want to leave them with.

Melanie:  So how do MedLinks help their fellow students and how can -- why would someone visit a MedLink?  What are some other reasons that somebody would seek out a MedLink?

Greg:  Absolutely.  So, we talked about accessing MIT Health.  Sometimes people will go to a MedLink in terms of trying to figure out how to pick a primary care provider.  Like I said, since the MedLinks have some over the counter medications and first-aid supplies, they can troubleshoot with someone if they're sick – like is this something that I can take care of myself, and I might have some supplies that can help you or, you know, do we need to have you to go to the medical department for care or call the ambulance or whatever? You know, sometimes, depending on how comfortable they are or how friendly they are with the student that they're helping or what the student wants, I've had MedLinks who go with the student to the hospital or walk with them to the walk-in hours at mental health and counseling; so, you know, the MedLinks can offer insights or suggestions or just, you know, a comforting presence if need be.  They also are one of the groups on campus that has access to the safer sex supplies that community wellness provides.  So, sometimes, they'll leave those either right on their door, or they'll be the ones who are responsible for refilling the supply in the bathroom or in a common space in the residence, and the one other thing I want to mention is that a lot of times we've heard from people that they think MedLinks is just about giving out medicine, just about handing out cough drops and band-aids; that's certainly part of it, but in terms of looking at our numbers over the years, about one out of every five interactions that the MedLinks volunteers send in like after they've helped someone, they'll say, "I did this.  I did that, whatever."   One out of every five is usually something conversational -- something about mental health or stress or, you know, a relationship concern or just something that's going on that isn't necessarily "I'm injured, and I need help."  So, we want people to know that MedLinks can be many different things, and they can, also, you know, be a friendly person to talk to if you need that.

Melanie:  How can someone learn more about MedLinks, Greg?

Greg:  Well, we're very lucky that we have a fancy website.  I did not make this website; I am not a technically savvy person, but someone who is did, and that's medlinks.mit.edu, and there's a couple of different things that are available on the website.  One of the cool features that we have is you can find your local MedLink based on where you live so there's a member directory.  As I said, there's 150 people in the group.  You might not want to scroll down and try to find everyone that lives in your residence, so you can just tap "I live in Burton-Conner" for example, and you'll see the whole list of people who are available, and you can learn more about the MedLinks; some of them have put, you know, a photo and some fun facts about themselves or, you know, just to let you get to know them better, and you can also see a list of the supplies that MedLinks keep in their kit so you know what might be available to you.  Sometimes, people will come to MIT Health for a hot pack or an ACE bandage or something like that and, you know, they might not even have had to leave the floor that they live on instead of coming to the medical building because the MedLinks could help them with that.  The MedLinks volunteers all have signs on their doors that say that they are a MedLinks volunteer and what they can do for them and, you know, just feel free to visit them, and let them know that you're interested in MedLinks, and they would be more than happy to talk about what they do, how they promote health at MIT and being part of a group that's really been at the forefront of that for the past -- more than 20 years on MIT's campus.

Melanie:  And what do you like, Greg, most about working with MedLinks?

Greg:  Well I appreciate the fact that that they are willing to put themselves out as helpers as people who are looking out for each other and that really is a community spirit that I see in truthfully most people at MIT and is the spirit that I have not necessarily seen at other places that I’ve worked.  I like that they are students first obviously, and they need to focus on their academics and all the great things that they are doing, but I like that they are taking on a responsibility or a role that says "I care about you; I care about making MIT a better place" and, you know, so  I am fortunate to help with the training, help with getting them the supplies they need, help, with, you know, troubleshooting situations that they've gone through, and just trying to be a support to them as they support other people.  So, I am a very lucky man with the job that I have.  

Melanie: Thank you so much, Greg for being with us today.  Listeners can visit Health.mit.edu for more information and to get connected to one of our providers. That concludes this episode of Conversations with MIT Health. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other MIT Health podcasts. . I’m Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for joining us today.