This past July, the University Health Department named Dr. Glenn Egelman their new director of Student Health Services. Egelman replaced the former director, Dr. Josh Kaplan, who died last December.
Egelman, a graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine said he is excited about taking over the department.
After Kaplan’s death, Bowling Green State University named Rebecca Utz interim director, until the end of the school year. The search for a new director was complete on July 6 of this year with the naming of Egelman.
Egelman comes to Bowling Green with an extensive resume. After graduating from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1991, he began work in many positions, including director of health services for Skidmore College, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Stony Brook Student Health Service, and just recently the president of the New York State College Health Association.
Dr. Egelman, one of “20 under 40 listers and shakers” named by “The Saratogian” newspaper, said he chose Bowling Green State University because he felt that the college was serious about our health services.
He also said the people he met here were both very professional, and pleasing to meet.
When asked how he has handled his new tasks he said it has been an adjustment, but one he is happy to make.
“It’s a lot of task juggling, but I am able to get through it by being humorous in my daily life and not getting too stressed,” Egelman said he has the fortune of already working as a director of Student Health Services before coming to Bowling Green, so he knows what to expect and what is expected of him.
Egelman said that he hopes to continue to make Bowling Green State University’s Student Health Department one of the best in the country.
He has made plans to increase the staffing for awareness issues, and he wants to have a moving gazebo to hand information out at various student locations.
Egelman hopes that he will be able to increase the education and prevention of cancer by informing students of the hazardous dangers in smoking and tanning.
“Students need to understand that skin cancer is a deadly disease and can effect you at any age,” said Egelman.
His hope for the future is to also bring in a speaker who has had testicular cancer, which is the number one cause of cancer in males ages 18 to 40, to speak to students at Bowling Green State University about an awareness issue.
Egelman’s advice for the upcoming cold season is to get your flu shots at the Student Health Center.
“Students need to realize that it is very easy to get sick if you live in the dorms because you are living so close to one another, and you exchange fluids with one another,” he said.
His advice to help prevent the flu is to get your flu shot early, and to wash your hands often.
He joked that it would be perfect if he had a full staff, they could give students flu shots as they come out of the shower — so they won’t miss class.
“It’s easier to go get your flu shot and take five minutes out of your day rather than get sick and miss a weeks worth of classes,” Egelman said.
