Before students hop on the boat to go abroad they need to take a walk to the edge of campus and visit the Student Health Center’s Student Travel Clinic.

“The idea is that if you’re traveling, it’s better to travel healthy,” Dr. Mark Blaedel, director of the Student Health Center, said..

The travel clinic offers free advice for students, faculty, staff and their spouses traveling abroad. Blaedel said they give advice about changing health practices and recommending medicines and vaccines to prevent diseases.

Abroad travelers receive free advice, but they must pay for any medicine or medical treatment received, Blaedel said.

The Student Travel Clinic is not a new addition to the Student Health Center.

In the more than seven years that it has been in operation, Mary Fosse, travel clinic nurse, said last year was their busiest year.

“I think a lot of people at Iowa State are studying abroad,” Fosse said. “There are also a lot of professors who do research abroad.”

The travel clinic’s busiest time when students, faculty and staff travel abroad, Fosse said is usually toward the end of spring semester.

Although the Student Health Center is pleased with the increased use the travel clinic receives, Blaedel said their biggest problem is that students don’t come in early enough to receive proper care.

“Some students wait until the last minute to come in,” he said.

Fosse said the key to traveling abroad is early planning.

Students need to go to the travel clinic as soon as they decide where they are going or at least two to three months before they leave, she said.

Abroad travelers will be asked to fill out an information sheet when they first arrive at the travel clinic.

Blaedel said the main reasons for students to get early treatment is because “some vaccines don’t mix well together.”

The travel clinic gets most of their information from TRAVAX, a computer software program put out by the Center for Disease Control. Fosse said the information on the software program is updated weekly.

Fosse said when they have groups going abroad they sometimes advise the whole group at once.

But for medical treatment, she said she makes individual appointments.

“A lot of times I try to treat the person with one appointment,” Fosse said.

We’re so much cheaper for the students, and private practices just couldn’t provide this type of service,” she said. Another advantage of the travel clinic, she said, is all the vaccines and medicine needed are on hand at the pharmacy.