It's a place where students used to see one face after another marching by, a place where trying to get to know someone was nearly impossible even though all the people tried to take the time to care.

Now University Health Services is turning to more traditional medical care with the introduction of a new health care system.

Beginning today, students visiting health services will be asked to join one of three health care teams in the general medicine department. Each team has three to four physicians, as well as mid-level practitioners and nurses.

"Those people all work together to care for the patients," said Susan Kennedy, associate director of health services.

Until now, persons who needed to see a University physician saw the first one available.

Under the new plan, students will choose a primary-care provider in one of the three teams to be their physician while at the University. Students can see any other member of their team if that provider is unavailable. And in the event of a medical emergency, patients will still be assigned to the first available physician for immediate attention.

To help students select a primary-care provider and team that will best suit their needs, the health center will publish informational brochures. The brochures will identify each provider and include information on the education, clinical and personal interests of each.

University physician Dr. Larry Dansky said patients will receive better continuity in their treatment because they will see the same physician or team members during each visit.

"It would be basically bringing to University Health Services a system similar to private practices," he said.

Before the health care teams were instituted, patients were subjected to "pingpong" health care, which Dansky described as seeing one physician after another and never getting acquainted with the doctor.

Chris Sciortino (junior-premedicine) said the new system will probably be better for students who visit health services often. "It would be nice to see the same face," he said.

Donna Recchio, co-president of the Student Health Advisory Board, said breaking up the staff will lead to higher quality health care.

"I think it's going to expedite students' visits," she said, adding that the board was consulted when the teams were being developed.

Dr. Margaret Spear, director of health services, said the service's health care changes have been talked about for nearly a year.

"The change will be that when we see the student, we'll know who they are," she said.