Travel Medicine
Columbia Health provides medical screenings for safety, vaccine and medications for those traveling internationally. You can schedule an appointment through the Patient Portal.
Travel Medicine at Columbia Health
Columbia Health offers international travel health visits, including recommending and providing vaccinations. During these visits, your health care provider can help you determine what vaccines you may need or other health precautions they recommend during your trip.
Who is eligible?
To schedule a travel assessment, you must:
- Be a Columbia student on the Morningside and Manhattanville campuses (including students at Teachers College, Union Theological Seminary, and Jewish Theological Seminary)
- Have paid the full-time Columbia Health and Related Services fee
How do I schedule a travel health visit?
You can schedule a travel health visit through the Patient Portal.
Please make an appointment as soon as you know your travel plans. We recommend you make the appointment well before your departure date, as some vaccinations may require six weeks to several months to complete the series.
Students enrolled in Capstone courses or other programs involving group travel to international destinations should first consult their group leader or professor regarding travel health seminars led by Medical Services. Please do this before scheduling individual travel health appointments.
Prior to your visit
To prepare for your visit, complete the online questionnaire in the Patient Portal. Additionally, please collect as much information as possible about your immunization history. Original documents are not necessary.
Take the Travel Health Course provided by the American College Health Association.
How much will it cost?
Students on the Columbia Student Health Insurance Plan
Travel Health visits are included in the Columbia Plan with no additional fee for the medical visit. You will not be charged for these travel vaccines if you receive them at Medical Services:
- Yellow Fever
- Japanese Encephalitis
- Polio
- Typhoid
- Meningococcal ACWY
- Meningococcal B
If you receive travel vaccines from an external provider, they may charge you. For possible reimbursement, please submit a reimbursement claim on the Aetna website.
Students with Other Insurance
Travel Health visits are included if you have paid the full-time Columbia Health and Related Services fee. However, there may be additional charges for vaccines. Vaccine charges may be reimbursable by your insurance company. Please contact your insurance company for specific plan requirements. Current travel vaccine prices are available on the Service Fees page.
If you receive travel vaccines from an external provider, you will be charged based on the provider fees and your insurance coverage.
What else do I need to know?
Travel health visits are in high demand. If you’re unable to make your scheduled travel health visit, please cancel as soon as possible. If you do not cancel at least 48 hours (2 days) in advance, you will not be able to make another travel health visit in the same semester.
At times of increased demand, you may be referred to community resource sites to complete your travel health assessments.
Faculty and staff traveling outside of the U.S. should contact the Columbia Benefits Service Center to find out about benefits coverage for travel assessments and vaccinations.
Where can I learn more about travel precautions?
If you’d like to learn more about updated travel alerts and precautionary measures related to COVID-19, Zika virus, malaria, dengue, chikungunya, MERS, or Ebola, please visit the Centers for Disease Control travel information website.
Frequently Asked Questions
You should contact ISOS when on official school travel. They will be able to help connect you with a local health care provider right away. Once you are back in the United States, you can contact Medical Services.
If you’re not traveling on official school assignment, you should contact OnCall International for local medical support.
It depends. You can check with your health insurance company to learn more about the benefits while traveling. You should ask your insurance provider if medical evacuation is included. Depending on your coverage, you may need to purchase additional insurance from companies specifically designed to meet these needs.
Students who have paid the full-time Health and Related Services fee or are enrolled in the Columbia Student Health Insurance plan have travel insurance benefits provided by On Call International.
Students traveling overseas for an extended period should plan in advance for prescription medication needs, as most insurance plans only allow for a 30-day supply of prescription medications.
Students insured under the Columbia Student Health Insurance Plan should contact Aetna Student Health to request approval for a medication supply (often called “vacation override”) that is enough to meet their travel needs.
Students who carry other insurance plans should contact their carrier for more information.
Vaccines administered at Medical Services are covered 100% (i.e. no co-pay) for students enrolled in the Columbia Student Health Insurance Plan (Aetna Open Choice PPO). For other insurance plans, check vaccine prices on our Fees for Additional Services page.
If you've uploaded all childhood vaccines, no need to resend. If only MMR was uploaded, please upload your full childhood vaccine history.
If you don’t have your records, the clinician will recommend the full set of vaccines to bring you up to date. You may review the Adult Vaccination Schedule here.
Check your travel visit note in the Patient Portal for clinician recommendations.
Vaccination is your choice. However, vaccines are strongly recommended to protect you and to prevent bringing vaccine preventable illnesses into communities abroad, especially in regions with limited healthcare resources. Medical Services encourages students to receive all recommended vaccines to safeguard both personal and public health.
Call 212-864-7426 to arrange a suitable time. If you can’t make the appointment, please cancel it using the Patient Portal to open up the slot for other students.
Yes. After living abroad, natural immunity to certain diseases may decline. Immunization schedules also differ between countries. A travel health appointment ensures you receive the proper vaccinations before your trip.