Getting ready for college is both an exciting and stressful time. There are plenty of items on an incoming student’s to-do list, from shopping for dorm room décor to registering for classes. One important element that can’t be ignored is addressing a student’s health care while they are away at school.

How should students handle emergency medical situations? What immunizations are required? Will students grant parents access to medical information?

These are all common questions families have before sending their child off the college.

Sue Whiting, RN-BC and Clinical Practice Manager at Northwestern University Health Service, said having conversations and making a plan to handle to above situations prior to the start of school is very important.

Once students turn 18, parents do not have automatic access to children’s health records, so it’s necessary to discuss whether or not or how much children will grant parents access to their records.

“Parents should not expect to call any medical facility, ours or any other, if someone’s 18 or over, and expect to get an immediate response. Law requires that medical information is private and can only be released with informed consent of the individual,” Whiting said.

For many students, college is the first time that students take full-time responsibility for their own health, wellness and medical care.

To prepare students to mange their health in college Dr. Jennifer Fast, clinical psychologist and director of health and wellness at Lake Forest College, said it’s important for teens to start taking more responsibility for these matters the summer before their freshman year to make wellness a habit.

“If their child is not already independently remembering to take their medications in the morning or to go to their appointment, and how to get to their appointments, they need to start doing that,” Fast said. “That includes things like laundry, being able to cook for themselves all of those kinds of things; making good food choices, all of that’s part of well-being and part of the transition.”

Parents should consider these health topics before dropping off their student at college:

Health insurance

Most schools have someone available to answer questions about coverage, but Fast said it’s important for parents to explain their insurance policy to their child prior to the start of term. For example, students should know the difference in cost between going to the urgent care clinic, emergency room, or student health center and in what situations they should access each facility.

Chronic illnesses

For students with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, Fast said students need to know what type of care is offered at their college. Sometimes a full range of services is available. Other times care needs to be transferred from a student’s primary doctor to a doctor situated closer to campus. Families should meet with a child’s doctor to determine the best options.

Medication

If students require prescription medications Fast said they need to meet with their physician prior to their departure to determine how they will receive their prescriptions and manage refills.

Immunizations

Immunization requirements vary by state and school. Whiting said parents should call the school directly with any questions they might have. At a minimum, incoming students need to meet the state immunization requirements of their chosen school. From there, requirements vary. For example, Fast said Illinois requires students have the meningitis vaccine. Measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, and tetanus vaccines are also required. Northwestern University requires TB screenings for all of their incoming students.

Illness documentation

Whiting said college policies on missing tests or finals due to illness are often stricter than in high school and students need to be aware of their college’s

policy. “There’s quite a higher level of expectation in terms of illness documentation,” said Whiting of Northwestern’s policy, which can be found on their website. “We ask for the documentation of the record. We want to see who you saw and when, what the instructions were. We don’t except notes from parents or doctors.”

Good health habits

Finally, Whiting provided some basic guidelines for maintaining good general health while on campus. She recommends students carry their insurance card with them, list an emergency contact in the university’s system and keep that information up to date, get a flu shot as soon as they become available, maintain good nutrition and sleep habits, stay hydrated, and wear durable footwear to avoid blisters that could become infected, as students will walk much more across campus than they did in high school.

“It’s always really exciting when we help a kids through a single bad illness or several illnesses and then see them graduate,” said Whiting.