SUPPORT services for students at third level are under resourced and overstretched and it is clear that financial difficulties are affecting student health and Welfare.

Last year, 72 per cent of respondents to a USI survey said that, at some point in the previous 12 months, they couldn't afford to see a doctor while over half did not see a dentist.

"I do think there are students reluctant to go to the family doctor because of the cost," says Dr David Thomas, Director of Student Health in Trinity College. "They don't want to overburden their already over burdened parents."

Yet colleges do provide a health service, with student counselling for psychological difficulties, run by dedicated staff with a genuine concern for the health and welfare of the students under their care. In some colleges, though, the sheer volume of those seeking assistance can lead to delays and may cause some students to simply forget about approaching a doctor at all.

"I think that is the attitude sometimes," says Seamus Doran, president of the students' union in the University of Limerick. "If they're waiting three days to see the college doctor, then a lot of people aren't going to bother with it. But if something serious is wrong with them, and they're waiting a long time, then you know what could happen...

Ireland lags far behind most of Europe, the USA and even New Zealand in its health care provisions at third level.

Last year, a survey of health services available to full time students in the country's universities conducted by Thomas found that the ratio of full time college doctors to students was 1:8,707, the equivalent of one doctor for the entire population of a reasonably sized provincial town. In New Zealand, the ratio is 1:4,207; in the USA, 1:3,571 - the ratio of full time counsellors to students was little better at 1:6,530. The recommended level in the UK is 1:2,000.

"I think it has an impact on students," says Thomas. "I think we are under tremendous pressure for nine months of the year. We are seeing people at 10 minute intervals and we are seeing, certainly in Trinity, up to 50 students per day with the equivalent of 1.3 doctors.

Operating under such pressure, the danger is that student health services may not be able to give adequate time to students at risk.

"One is always concerned that somebody, because of the time constraints, may not bring up certain issues, usually with psychological bearings," says Thomas.

Yet with the structures already in place in colleges, he believes further investment by the Government in health services at third level could prove an extremely cost effective way of providing primary health care for young people.

Young men in particular, who have traditionally been reluctant to approach doctors or counsellors, tend to view student health services as user friendly.

Student health services also have a larger, preventative role to play.

"One thing you can do in a student health setting is to get across opportunistic health education on a one to one basis," says Thomas. "If they come with a cough, then I'm more likely to be able to get over the message about smoking. If they come with issues like a lack of concentration, we will often find some underlying substance abuse cause, such as alcohol or marajuana.

"I think we have to start going out into the campus more and more, spreading the message. One way is by introducing modules, especially in study practices, time management and healthy lifestyles, as an actual part of students' courses.

If student health services are to realise their maximum potential, then the goodwill and concern of their staff has to be matched by adequate funding from government. Unfortunately, neither the Department of Education or the Department of Health appears willing to accept responsibility for the additional expenditure needed.

One way in which the services could be funded is through the reintroduction of the automatic entitlement of students to medical cards, which was rescinded in a shameful episode by the then Minister for Health, Barry Desmond, in the early 1980s.

The first step on that road is a willingness on the part of the Departments involved, and the colleges themselves, to see student health as a primary concern.