After Approval

After Approval

Health, Safety, and Insurance

Health and Safety. Your medical needs will depend largely on the countries you intend to visit. To find out what what is currently recommended or required, look into the information provided by your program, and that available from the Centers for Disease Control, World Health Organization, and the Coe Health Center (a licensed travel vaccination site). Some countries require vaccination or negative-HIV certificates. Most programs will require you to provide a medical report, consisting of a doctor's physical exam and additional information from you on your medical history and any disabilities for which you are requesting reasonable accommodations.

The Health Center can assist you in completing health and insurance forms; give physical exams and TB skin tests (no charge); and administer vaccinations and arrange for chest x-rays (at cost). They can help you decide about preventive medications for malaria, altitude sickness, allergies, diarrhea, etc. But it is important that you do not leave your visit to the Health Center to the last few days of the semester before you leave, when there will not be any appointment times still available. Remember too that test results are probably needed early in order to obtain a visa and final entry to your program. Some courses of immunization and medication must be started well before departure. HIV-antibody tests can be administered by the Health Center at no cost, provided that you make an appointment in good time.

Take the trouble to inform yourself about conditions in the country where you are planning to study. If you have concerns, your program should be in a good position to explain safety issues and their procedures. Very occasionally safety concerns will cause a program to suspend operations. In most cases, however, the decision as to whether to go will ultimately be yours and your parents'. The U.S. State Department issues consular information sheets, summarizing entry requirements and health and safety issues, for those travelling to any country. The OCS library has binders of the latest consular information and travel advisories for countries to which Bowdoin students travel; you can find them all at the State Department's Website.

Insurance. Be sure that you have sufficient health and accident insurance for your entire time away, including travel before and after your program. Students' needs and preferences for insurance depend on the location and facilities of their program and host country, and whether they are covered by the Bowdoin College Plan, family insurance, program insurance, and optional supplementary insurance. A wide range of private optional plans (including one from Bowdoin's agency, Koster Insurance) exists for those who desire additional medical coverage or, for example, insurance for lost or stolen property and baggage, and trip cancellation or interruption.

All Bowdoin students must be enrolled in a health insurance plan. Off-campus study students will be automatically enrolled in the Bowdoin College Student Accident and Sickness Insurance Plan, unless they can demonstrate that they have comparable coverage for both emergency and non-emergency services. The deadline for waiving coverage in Bowdoin's plan is 3 August 2007. If you do not waive coverage by this date, you will be automatically enrolled, and the charge will remain on your student bill. Families may choose to maintain private insurance or purchase the study away program's insurance in addition to the Bowdoin Plan; in such cases, Bowdoin's Plan will be secondary to any other insurance plan. In late May, Koster Insurance, Bowdoin's student health insurance service agency, will mail more detailed insurance information, including information for financial aid students without comparable coverage, and instructions for the on-line waiver processes. Read the information carefully and compare it to the coverage offered through your program or your family's private insurance to determine what coverage is best for you. If before then you have questions about the plan design or the waiver process, please contact Koster by phone (800.457.5599) or email, or go to the Koster website to download information. You may direct more general questions to the Bowdoin Health Services Office by email or phone (207.798.4284).

The dates of coverage under the Bowdoin Plan are 15 August 2007 through 14 August 2008. If you will be off campus for the fall semester only and waive coverage in the Bowdoin Plan while away, you can purchase Bowdoin's coverage upon return for the spring semester only. If you will be off campus for the full year, you must either purchase or waive coverage for the entire year; you may not change your coverage mid-year unless you have a qualifying event. If you will be off campus for the spring semester only, you must either purchase or waive coverage for the entire year (i.e., there is no fall-only plan).

A supplement to the above, though not sufficient as sole coverage, is provided by the International Student Identity Card, which offers basic insurance for accident medical expense (up to $25,000, including $500 emergency dental coverage), sickness and hospital expenses ($165 a day, up to 61 days), emergency evacuation ($300,000), repatriation of remains ($25,000), accidental death and dismemberment (air $5,000, excluding air $1,000), lost document replacement ($500), baggage delay ($100), and travel delay ($100).

Bowdoin students abroad also have access to the Executive Assistance Program. This is an emergency assistance service designed to assist you with extraordinary needs. The program is not an insurance policy and does not provide medical payments; rather it is designed to work in tandem with your existing insurance and provide assurance of benefit availability. Further details and a wallet card with emergency numbers are available as a PDF.