All Vanderbilt faculty and staff who will be conducting business which requires international travel need a plan to maintain health and prevent illness and injury during the trip. The Occupational Health Clinic offers pre-travel consultations for non-work related travel. During a pre-travel consultation with OHC, a customized healthcare plan for your travel will be prepared. This includes:
- Destination specific vaccinations and prescription medication
- Medical travel kit
- Travel health and safety advice
Many vaccinations require a few weeks to develop protective immunity, and yellow fever vaccine must be given more than 10 days prior to departure. Schedule your consultation at least 4 weeks prior to departure if possible.
Travel vaccinations are provided at at no charge for Vanderbilt faculty and staff traveling on Vanderbilt business.
Yellow Fever Vaccine: Due to controls on yellow fever vaccine distribution and special requirements for screening, OHC will perform the screening to determine whether an employee is eligible for yellow fever vaccine and whether it is appropriate for the itinerary. We will arrange for the individual to receive the vaccine by special arrangement in the Travel Clinic. This service is billed to OHC, not the traveler, if traveling on Vanderbilt business.
How to Schedule Your Travel Visit:
Complete the online travel consultation request by clicking this link.
Because the consultation request contains a medical form for you to print, it's best if you are at a computer attached to a printer. Have the following information handy:
- Your itinerary with the date you will arrive at each destination.
- Your supervisor's email address. You will need to type in your supervisor's email address which will trigger an automated authorization email to them (not needed if scheduling personal travel consultation).
- Any scheduling preferences for your visit to OHC.
Once your supervisor has verified your work status while traveling from their email, we will contact you at your preferred phone or email to schedule your appointment.
Visits for pre-travel consultation and vaccines last about an hour, so plan accordingly.
If you were unable to print the medical form when completing the consultation request, you can print a fresh copy here.
Group Leaders:
When providing health care in remote or primitive settings, the team should carry emergency HIV medication to be used for postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) in the event of a needlestick. This is dispensed from the pharmacy and requires a prescription for an individual. For group travel, it is not necessary that every individual obtain a prescription. Here's how to obtain a supply of PEP meds for your group:
- Designate 1 person out of every 5 to 10 in your group to be a PEP med carrier. If you are doing surgical work choose the higher number.
- Inform the individual and their supervisor that they will be a designated PEP med carrier and will need to get a prescription during their OHC visit.
- The online Travel Consultation Request allows either the traveler or the supervisor to identify that they will be a designated PEP med carrier.
- OHC prescribes PEP meds for these designated individuals during their clinic visit.
- Provide an 1180 form to the designated PEP med carrier which they will use to purchase the PEP meds from the pharmacy. It should not be charged to the employee's personal prescription plan.
- Identify a place to store the medication where exposed individuals can quickly access it in the event of an exposure.
Additional information:
State Dept travel warnings and alerts: State Department Travel website
CDC Travel website: CDC Travelers' Health
Travel Well guide to healthy international travel
Keywords: Travel, Travel Vaccine, Pre-Travel Survey, Pre-Travel Screening, Group Travel.
