Pre-Departure Orientation Health & Insurance
Basic Page Sidebar Menu Penn Abroad
Your health and well-being are extremely important to ensure a successful time abroad. Meeting with your doctor and understanding how to access medicine abroad are two of the important steps you should be taking to prepare yourself for your abroad experience.
Read the following sections of the Penn Abroad Health & Safety page to make sure you are completing all steps of the health & safety checklist:
You are encouraged to schedule a consultation with your medical service provider or Student Health Services (SHS) prior to your international travel to learn about country-specific risks and precautions and how to stay healthy while traveling. Be sure to schedule this at least six weeks or more prior to your departure to ensure time for any necessary follow up. During your health consultation, be sure that all of your childhood immunizations are up to date, and obtain any required or recommended immunizations for your destination country.
You can find detailed information about travel support services, food and water precautions, common illnesses, medications and more on the SHS Travel Health website. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is also a helpful resource for health information as well as required and recommended vaccines and immunizations by country.
Some Penn Abroad programs will require you to complete a Health Information Form during your health consultation. Check your online program application in PASSPORT to view your program’s requirements. If applicable, after completing your Health Information Form, upload it to your program application in PASSPORT.
All Penn Abroad programs will require you to complete a Health Information Form self-assessment after you have been accepted to your abroad program. This form is available in your PASSPORT application. Please complete the form as accurately as possible.
Penn Abroad requires that all Penn students maintain medical insurance coverage that is valid in their home country, even when traveling abroad. If your home country health insurance is the Penn Student Insurance Plan (PSIP), make sure you have taken the necessary steps to remain enrolled even while abroad. Some semester abroad programs also require additional country-specific medical insurance. If you are participating in a semester abroad program, your Global Programs Manager can let you know if you will be required to purchase additional host country health insurance.
In addition to maintaining medical insurance coverage valid in your home country for the duration of your travel, all Penn students traveling on a Penn-approved program and who have registered their travel in MyTrips are also covered by Penn’s International SOS (ISOS) membership while abroad. Penn’s International SOS (ISOS) membership includes:
-
Travel medical insurance
-
24/7 medical and security consultation
-
Hospital referrals
-
Emergency evacuation assistance
The complete summary of ISOS member benefits is available on the International SOS Penn portal. Print a copy of the Penn ISOS Card and keep it with your important travel documents while abroad, take note of Penn’s membership I.D (11BSGC000012) and the Penn dedicated phone number (+1 215 942 8478). You will also find international contact information within the ISOS Penn Portal. If you are injured, feel sick, or need to see a doctor while abroad, contact ISOS to find out what medical facility you should go to for medical assistance in your host location. In order to be pre-authorized to use International SOS medical insurance, you must register your round-trip flight itinerary in MyTrips.
