Dr. Birgit Pols is joining the Bowdoin community as Director of Health Services, beginning in August 2014.
Pols will be responsible for the daily operation and oversight of the medical staff and services at Bowdoin’s Health Center in the Peter S. Buck Center for Health and Fitness.
The Peter S. Buck Center for Health and Wellness
A native of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Pols arrives with 25 years of medical experience, the last eight of which were spent immersed in college health. She was most recently the director of health and wellness for both the New York University Abu Dhabi Health and Wellness Center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and for NYU Global Sites, where she balanced clinical and administrative duties.
Pols was previously the lead physician at the NYU Health Center in New York City, providing primary and urgent health care to the student population.
“I am very fortunate to be joining Bowdoin and excited about returning home to Maine,” says Dr. Pols.
“Along with the exceptional team at Health Services and my Student Affairs colleagues, I am looking forward to contributing to this dynamic community.”
Pols has written and implemented policies and procedures in three states and two countries; created a health and wellness center quality management program, which included a student satisfaction survey; and has presented on two occasions to the American College Health Association on the subjects of H1N1 and health literacy.
A fellow of the American Academy of Family Practice since 1994, Pols earned her B.A. and M.D. degrees at Brown University, and completed family medicine residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Pols succeeds Sandra Hayes, who served as Bowdoin’s director of health services from July 2007 to June 2014, after having joined the Health Center staff in 2000.
The selection of Dr. Pols would not have been possible without the dedicated work of the search committee led by Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kim Pacelli and comprising Carl Boisrond ‘16, Head Athletic Trainer Dan Davies, Director of the Counseling Service and Wellness Programs Bernie Hershberger, Associate Director of Health Promotion Whitney Hogan, Director of Human Resources Tama Spoerri and Kaylee Wolfe ‘15.
