Travel Health Consultation
Travel Health Consultation Requirement for Study Abroad
All KU study abroad participants are required to obtain a Travel Health Consultation from a clinician at Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic (or from a personal physician). The travel health consultation will provide you with an opportunity to discuss personal health matters as well as those particular to your host country and to international travel.
There are three ways to fulfill this requirement:
OPTION 1: (only open to students traveling to low-risk countries)
Only for students who are traveling to low-risk countries (see below) and who have no physical or psychological conditions for which they are currently receiving treatment (or for which they have received on-going treatment in the past) may fulfill this requirement by attending a group travel health consultation. NOTE: If students have program health forms that require a signature from a physician, then they must do Option 2 or Option 3 below.
During the current semester, group travel health consultation presentations will be offered at the First Floor Conference room, Watkins Health Center, at the following dates, and times:
- November 7th, 2018 - 12:00pm, First Floor Conference room
- November 9th, 2018 - 10:00am, First Floor Conference room
- November 13th, 2018 - 11:00am, First Floor Conference room
- November 15th, 2018 - 1:00pm, First Floor Conference room
- November 27th, 2018 - 1:00pm, First Floor Conference room
- November 30th, 2018 - 11:00am, First Floor Conference room
The presentations start promptly and run approximately 30-45 minutes with time for questions at the end. The immunization clinic will be open after the sessions for all individuals who would like to obtain the necessary or recommended immunizations for the destinations they are going.
All students will be asked to sign-in at the beginning of the group travel health consultation presentation and must stay for the entire session. If you arrive more than 10 minutes late you may be asked to go to another session. This requirement will be marked “Received” in your online JayhawksAbroad profile following your attendance at one of the presentation sessions above.
It is recommended that all students bring to the travel health consultation a copy of the TRAVAX Report specific to your destination country/countries (also available in your online JayhawksAbroad profile under Required Readings "Travax Report") as well as a copy of your immunization records (if available) to discuss necessary or recommended immunizations.
NOTE: If students going to low risk countries are not able to attend one of the scheduled group sessions listed above, they must then schedule an individual appointment with a clinician at Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic or with their personal physician, see Option 2 or 3 below. If students going to low risk countries have a health verification form that needs to be completed and signed by a physician, they must then schedule an individual appointment with a physician at Watkins Health Services or with their personal physician.
The following are the low-risk countries for which a group travel health consultation is allowed:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Denmark
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Portugal
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- United Kingdom
OPTION 2:
Students traveling to countries not appearing on the list above (middle to high-risk countries) or students who have a physical or psychological condition for which they are currently receiving treatment or have received treatment in the past, or have a program health form that must be completed by a physician, must schedule an individual appointment with a clinician at Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic.
NOTE: Lawrence campus students will not be charged a Watkins Health Services fee if they pay campus fees for the current semester and if they visit a clinician at Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic before the current semester ends. Study Abroad students do not pay campus fees, so if you wait until after the semester ends to have your clinician visit at Watkins before you leave to go abroad, you will be charged a fee. Please check with Watkins Health Services for more information regarding these fees (785) 864-9507.
KU Edwards Campus students and KU Medical Center students will be charged a fee for this service which may be covered by health insurance. Please check with Watkins Health Services for more information regarding these fees (785) 864-9507.
Because several weeks may be required to complete an immunization series, travel health consultations should be scheduled a minimum of 6-8 weeks before departure.
To schedule your individual travel health consultation, call Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic at (785) 864-9507. Watkins Health Service Travel Clinic appointments are a free service to students who have paid their Lawrence Campus Fees for the current term.
Once you meet with a clinician at Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic, they will notify our office directly every Monday and we will then mark this material submission as "Received".
OPTION 3:
Students are able to fulfill this requirement through an appointment with their personal physician outside of KU. Students electing this option must ensure the Travel Health Consultation Form is signed by their personal physician and returned to the KU Office of Study Abroad before they depart on their study abroad program (the Travel Health Consultation Form is not needed for students who meet with Watkins Health Services Travel Clinic). Once the Travel Health Consultation form is submitted to the Office of Study Abroad, the material submission will be marked as "Received".
