Students' health, safety and security is very important to all of us at IHP. We work with participants before, during and after our programs to help them maintain their physical health and mental well-being.
Pre-departure Preparation
All students are required to submit a Medical Information form and a Physician Medical Report form as part of their required confirmation materials. We review these forms well in advance of the program and contact each student to discuss any potential risks that IHP may pose. We encourage students to discuss the itinerary with their physician and mental health care provider, and stress that IHP is a rigorous program in many ways. If we have a serious concern about a medical or mental health issue, we may ask permission to consult with the student’s doctor.
Immunizations & Medications
IHP cannot make recommendations regarding vaccines to get prior to the program or medications to take during the program. Rather, we provide students with a detailed itinerary listing the locations within each country to which students travel. We encourage all students to discuss the itinerary with a physician (preferably at a travel clinic) to determine the best course of prevention. In addition, we require all students to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website’s sections on Travelers' Health for each country on the itinerary. There are a variety of factors to consider, including prevalence of disease in each location at the time of the program, cost, and potential side effects. Students, in consultation with family and health care providers, should take time to research their options and decide on prevention options individually. Additional information about diseases to be aware of can be found in the Student Handbook on the Confirmation Materials page.
For students on medication, we recommend bringing a supply that will last for the duration of the program, since it may be hard to find certain medications abroad, and mail can be unreliable. Prescriptions should be kept in their original containers, and it can often be helpful to carry a note from the prescribing doctor indicating the purpose of the prescription.
Emergency Preparedness
While we cannot always anticipate the course of world or local events, please be assured that we monitor the ever-changing environment around the globe and regularly update our contingency plans. In order to make informed decisions about issues that may impact students’ health and safety, we monitor travel alerts and warnings issued by the U.S. Department of State, consult with others in the study abroad field, and rely on our country coordinators for their extensive knowledge of local conditions. To the extent possible, we have identified local clinics and hospitals capable of providing various levels of care. Our programs travel to remote locations, which occasionally means that we are some distance from large medical facilities, but we have plans in place to get sick or injured students to locations where professional care is available and to evacuate students if necessary. In the event of major political unrest, war or natural disaster, we have evacuation plans in place to get students out of a country quickly.
Contact in the Event of Emergency
IHP maintains emergency contact information for parents/guardians of students on the program and distributes an emergency contact list to parents to be used in the event that they need to get in touch with their students urgently. Federal privacy laws (FERPA) prevent us from contacting parents/guardians without permission, unless a student is a potential threat to him/herself or others or is seriously ill. Thus, we encourage students to maintain contact with home. We also strongly encourage students to reach out to program staff for help at the first sign of health problems during the program to avoid more serious problems down the road. We hope that emergencies do not arise during our programs, but if they do, we are committed to supporting students and their families to assure their health and safety.
H1N1 Policy
IHP takes precautions on its programs to prevent the spread of contagious disease and encourages students to do the same. Students should monitor their health prior to departure and avoid travel when they are showing symptoms of illness. With the current increased international concern around the H1N1 virus, students may be temporarily quarantined (separation of those who have been exposed) or isolated (separation of those who are actively sick) from the general population by public health authorities in host countries in order to prevent further spread of disease. It is impossible to predict ahead of time the quarantine and isolation policies of the countries where we travel but IHP will monitor these policies as students travel from country to country. It is recommended that students avoid travel if possible when they have flu-like symptoms. If a student is suspected of having, or is diagnosed with H1N1 infection, and in the absence of other government mandates, IHP will ask the student to move to an alternate location away from others during the period of infectiousness so that she or he will not transmit the virus to other students or homestay family members (this will often be a room in a guest house or similar lodging). Whether a student is separated from the program by IHP or by public health authorities, IHP will abide by its standard policy for sick students, which stipulates that IHP will assist the student in obtaining medical care and will continue to monitor the student's care and be of assistance until the student can rejoin the program. Faculty, Trustees Fellows, country coordinators, and additional staff are available to help students who become ill. They will assist the student in keeping up with academic work and offer opportunities to make up work missed during quarantine/isolation.
The IHP program fee includes the cost of insurance. Students are automatically subscribed to emergency accident and sickness insurance through World Learning/SIT once they are on the program. This insurance does not cover preventative care or pre-existing conditions. Therefore, we encourage students to keep existing policies in place if they have them. Students and their families should familiarize themselves with the terms of coverage before departure and print out the Insurance ID card from the link below. The claim form is also available below. Note that it has sections that must be completed by the provider. Please direct all questions about the terms of the policy and claims to Sharon Berry by emailing sharon.berry@worldlearning.org.
In addition to this health insurance through World Learning/SIT, IHP gives students an International Student Identity card (ISIC), which provides emergency support and some travel insurance. For a summary of benefits provided by the ISIC, visit the ISIC website. Finally, for students who wish to insure their baggage, it is possible to purchase baggage insurance. Information is available at the link below.