Global Medical Related Travel HCOM 1 & 2

Independent Medical Related Travel - HCOM Years 1 & 2

The summer between the first and second years at the Heritage College offer an opportunity for medical students to participate in independent medical related travel. Year one and two students do not receive credit for this travel and are NOT covered under Heritage College malpractice insurance. Please follow these steps to register medical related travel with the Heritage College and Ohio University.

Ohio University’s Student Travel policy (https://www.ohio.edu/policy/22-001) asks that all students travelling more than 100 miles from their home campus for university related activities register their travel for their protection. For medical students there are additional safety, ethical, sustainable development and scope of practice concerns to think about prior to global travel that are covered in the registration process.

Note: 

COVID-19  and other health issues may still impact travel, especially to international destinations. Students planning to participate in the above experiences should research country and local requirements carefully. Create a personal health and emergency plan for your trip covering all health advisories. Resources to help plan your experience can be found at https://www.ohio.edu/goglobal/resources/health-safety 

Heritage College students can participate in programs with Child Family Health International and International Service Learning. Heritage College students can also arrange their own programs through church organizations, other universities, hospitals and the American Medical Student Association. Select your program carefully. This article identifies some of the issues to consider: " Some Health Programs Overseas Let Students Do Too Much Too Soon. "

Travel to countries with state department warnings is discouraged. Travel to countries with International SOS Ratings of medium or higher may require additional review. Information on current state department warnings can be found at: Travel.State.Gov. 

To have your travel reviewed and registered:

  1. Complete the supplemental application.  (This is a Qualtrics form that opens in a new window). 
  2. Complete the Travel Registration. (Note select Travel Registration even if you are travelling with a non- OHIO third party provider.)
    • As instructed in the application system, enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) with the U.S. Dept. of State (embassy) at https://step.state.gov/step/.  Under the Privacy Act Information section, please mark “Others” and include the following in the space provided for waiver comments: Also contact the Ohio University Global Opportunities Office, (740-593-4583), globalopportunities@ohio.edu) and Global Health Initiative (740-593-2359, globalhealth@ohio.edu), E118 Grover Center, Athens, OH 45701.  
    • All participants are provided with international health insurance (including medical evacuation to the nearest appropriate facility and repatriation of remains).  This insurance is provided at no cost.  
    • Enter your passport information and upload a copy of the photo page of your passport.
    • Enter your travel itinerary.
  3. Review the health and safety information at:  https://www.ohio.edu/goglobal/resources/health-safety
  4. Also register your travel at https://www.ohio.edu/goglobal/resources/health-safety/mytrips
  5. Obtain the necessary country visa as appropriate. Country specific information on visas is available at the U.S. Dept. of State website at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel.html.  Non-US citizens can check at https://www.ohio.edu/goglobal/students/international. 
  6. Obtain immunizations as recommended by CDC guidelines (http://www.cdc.gov) and your health care provider.
  7. Complete the Bobcats Abroad  & Global Health Online Modules – information on how to access these modules will be e-mailed to you by the Office of Global Opportunities.
  8. Check out the travel awards from the Office of Global Opportunities. For more information go to: https://www.ohio.edu/global-health/programs/travel-awards You can apply for these awards the semester prior to travel.
  9. Depending on activities and area of travel, we recommend taking and sending results of a post-trip TB test taken 10 weeks after travel to the Global Health Office, globalhealth@ohio.edu.