PrEP in Student Health Services—a Call to Action

Excerpt

Alex (name changed for privacy) was a college student when he presented to the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Clinic at our medical center a few miles away from his campus. He knew that as a sexually active, young gay man, he was at higher risk of acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than his heterosexual peers. While he used condoms most of the time, when he heard people talk about “the little blue pill that prevents HIV,” he decided to seek out HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to further lower his risk. He understood that being on PrEP involved regular HIV and bacterial STD testing, and he was concerned about privacy and potential stigma at his school-affiliated student health center. He did an internet search for STD clinics around the city and even considered going to the emergency room before scheduling his PrEP intake with our STD Clinic. During his visit, he told his provider about flu-like symptoms and a diffuse rash, a foreboding sign that he may have recently been infected with HIV. …