School of Medicine

Counseling and Support Services

During your medical studies, periods of increased stress are inevitable. The beginning of your medical education is one of those periods. Although stress is part of everyday life, we urge that you seek help if you begin to feel overwhelmed or if your emotions begin to interfere with your concentration, your academic performance, or your personal relationships.

The classic signs and symptoms of stress include the following:
Sleep disturbances
Withdrawal from social contact
Lowered emotional control
Feelings of depression
Generalized physical weakness
Lack of sexual interest
Increased hostility and anger
Constant tension
Apathy
Excessive fatigue
Increased anxiety
Headaches
Increased smoking
Loss of appetite
Emotional outbursts
Substance abuse

You will find that most faculty have an open door policy. Dr. Marc J. Kahn, the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, is eminently accessible and available for consultation of an administrative, academic, or personal nature, as are Jan A. Cooper, MD, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, N. Kevin Krane, M.D., Vice-Dean for Academic Affairs; and Barbara Beckman, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Admissions and Recruitment. Father Donald Owens, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and is available for confidential consultation.

For needs that might require brief or ongoing psychotherapy, there are several options:

• Douglas Greve, M.D., is available to see medical students in the French Quarter. He can be reached at 236-5532.
• Christa Eckert, M.D., is available to see medical students at her uptown Tulane University Student Health Center office (865-5255) or at Tulane University Medical Center Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic (988-5408). There is no charge for the first eight sessions. Clinical social workers are also available to see medical students for ten free visits at the Uptown Student Health Center.
• Tulane also offers a completely confidential system of counseling services through the Phoenix Society , a student-operated organization, which ensures psychiatry consultation and treatment for students through the services of Tulane University School of Medicine's psychiatry faculty. This service is entirely separate from the school of medicine administration.
• Arrangements for consultations can be made by contacting the student representatives or the faculty advisors of the Phoenix Society. You can obtain a list of the current class and club officers from the SEC office.
• Arrangements can be made independently or through the faculty advisors of the Phoenix Society for consultation and/or treatment by privately practicing therapists (psychiatrists, psychologists, or psychiatric social workers) outside the Tulane University/Tulane Medical School system. Arrangements to see an experienced psychologist or psychiatric social worker in the Educational Resources and Counseling Center (uptown campus) can be made by calling 865-5513. Some evening hours are available. There is no charge. There is also a graduate student therapy group available.

You will find that all representatives of all of the above services will make every effort to be available and to keep everything confidential. Many students before you have found these services to extremely helpful.