Travel consultations
We provide travel consultation to customize care for our patients based on itinerary, health and medical history, and the family’s concerns and needs. Our goal is to prepare the family through counseling, education, vaccinations, and medications in order to reduce the risk of illness and injury during their international travel.
Our travel nurse practitioner
Sarah Geary, CPNP, is our travel nurse practitioner with specific expertise in this area. She can help your provider design a health plan for your trip, or you can schedule an appointment for direct consultation with Sarah. Ideally, the consultation should be at least 4 weeks prior to departure. Some vaccines and malaria prophylaxis medication should be started some weeks before travel to be effective.
During the consultation, vaccine indications, contraindications and timing of doses will be determined. If malaria prophylaxis is needed, the medication side effects and course will be discussed.
We recommend contacting our office as soon as you have completed your travel itinerary, ideally 8 weeks prior to departure. A brief phone interview regarding the details of your travel will take place within 1 week. Our travel NP will utilize that information to provide you with individualized counseling and recommendations during an in office travel visit during which vaccines and prophylactic medications may be recommended. As most travel visits entail vaccinations, your office visit should take place at least 4 weeks prior to departure to ensure time for full vaccine efficacy.
We will do our best to accommodate your travel needs, however should your timeline be limited we recommend the following travel clinics for urgent needs.
- Passport Health – 617-622-5049
- BCH Travel Clinic – 617-355-5945
- MGH Travel Clinic – 617-724-6454
Your travel consultation will include:
- Risk and prevention of insect-borne diseases
- Methods to reduce foodborne and waterborne illnesses
- Management of traveler’s diarrhea
- Animal avoidance and rabies prevention
- If appropriate, behavior risks like STDs and/or illegal drug use
At the time of the consultation it is important that the family bring the exact itinerary!!
The following information is required:
- The specific countries and regions to be visited (in order of travel)
- If the visit will be in an urban or rural area
- The exact dates and length of travel in each area
- The reason for travel (vacation, visiting friends/relatives)
- Mode of transportation while in each area
- Planned activities while traveling
Helpful travel resources:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- STEP Program
- Click here for cards in multiple different languages you can bring when traveling to communicate different food allergies.