Camosun College Student Society sponsored content
Did you know that there’s a free sexual health clinic at Camosun College? Every Friday from 9 am to 2 pm Island Sexual Health has a clinic at Camosun’s Lansdowne campus. Located on the third floor of Richmond House, the clinic offers services to students free of charge.
The nurse-led clinic opened in 2002; RN Jessica Pope works for Island Sexual Health and is one of the staffers at the Camosun clinic. She says that most of the students they see are just learning to access health care and says that the Richmond House space is an easy clinic for them to come to.
“The students who access our services tend to be between the ages of 18 to 45 with primary health concerns in this age range usually being within the area of reproductive and sexual health,” says Pope. “Being able to provide care for people for this facet of their life can be a huge stress reliever. We also feel we act as an accessible gateway to the rest of the health care system.”
“We also all practice with a trauma-informed lens,” she continues. “Lots of people accessing our services have never seen anyone about sexual health issues before and it’s great to be able to provide the care and time it needs to make their first experience as positive as possible. We seek to empower people in their sexuality and seek to destigmatize sexual health care for people.”
The services the clinic offers include STI treatment, testing, and support; birth/bleed control; pap tests and genital exams; pregnancy testing and pro-choice options; emergency contraception; harm reduction supplies; and education and information.
“We would like to emphasize that our clinic is a safe space for all to go for sexual health care and all our practitioners come from a trauma-informed lens,” says Pope. “We are a sex-positive space and strive to be as inclusive as possible.”
Some products are also available at the clinic for a nominal fee.
“Since most birth control has become free, we do find access to birth control has become easier without having to necessarily access care at our clinic first,” says Pope. “However, we remain available to students who have never been on birth control before and want to speak with knowledgeable individuals on what methods might be right for them. Pharmacists don’t always have the time and space to do a deep-dive on what kind of birth control they should be taking so we are the perfect place for that. We also offer basic treatments for BV and yeast and free treatment for most STIs.”
Students can make an appointment at the clinic by calling or texting 250-888-6814; the clinic can also accommodate walk-ins. (Please note the phone line is only monitored during clinic hours; if you want to book an appointment at the Camosun clinic or require assistance outside of the Camosun campus clinic hours, please call the Island Sexual Health Quadra Street location at 250-592-3479.)
The Richmond House location is located at the top of two flights of stairs with no access to lift assistance. If you’re a Camosun student who requires accessible clinic space, please contact the Quadra Street location.
Island Sexual Health is a non-profit organization that is also a registered charity; they provide all things sexual health-related, including pro-choice and comprehensive sexual health clinics, education programs and products for people of all genders, orientations, identities, abilities, and ages.
The Camosun College Student Society funds some of Island Sexual Health’s initiatives at the college, as the student society recognizes the importance of accessibility of sexual health clinics to students.
“We hope to be on campus for as long as the Student Society and Camosun College have us!” says Pope. “We are seeking to expand some of our reproductive/sexual health services in the future too so stay tuned!”
The clinic operates from September to April. See islandsexualhealth.org for more information.
“It has been a pleasure to serve the students at Camosun,” says Pope. “They are such a lovely population of people and we are proud to be able to offer this service to them!”