<p>My daughter is returning from her junior semester abroad next week and immediately beginning a summer research job in the city where she goes to school. I talked to her yesterday and she agreed that she should have a physical as soon as possible. She has been studying in a third world country and has had several bouts of dysentery and, at the end of her independent study project (conducted in a rural area), she had a FUO (she tested negative for malaria). Also, she has a couple of chronic conditions that are managed with medication. There is a large multispeciality practice associated with the local university’s medical school where, I think, we will be able to find doctors who will be covered under our insurance plan’s extended PPO. I am assuming this because, prior to her trip, my daughter went to their international travel clinic for her immunizations and everything was paid for by our insurance.
I went to the practice’s website this evening and found it overwhelming. There is a Women’s Health Specialists Clinic, but there are also specialists in tropical medicine and infectious diseases. You can request an appointment online and, apparently, then receive a phone call. The online form includes spaces for Diagnosis or Appointment Reason and Preferred Clinic or Location-not room for a long explanation! </p>
<p>I’d appreciate any advice or insight.</p>
<p>If your daughter is experiencing specific symptoms, she should NOT request a physical. Physicals are routine appointments and can be scheduled months out, especially for new patients. If she’s still having fevers, a tropical medicine or infectious disease specialist might be reasonable choices, depending on how long it takes to get an appointment. She could also start with a general internist for labs and initial evaluation and help with expediting specialty consultation if it’s needed. Be sure that your daughter is aware that in some groups she may be offered a routine apointment that is weeks away, but generally medical practices hold out some appointments for more urgent problems, and she shouldd be assertive in asking for this if she’s not well. Good luck!</p>
<p>Have them check for giardiasis. The people at the travel clinic would be the best ones IMO, as they will already have her info.
She should just call them.
It’s common to get aftercare for your travel adventures.
If the clinic is like the one at UW, she will already have their contact info in case she had questions during her trip.</p>
<p>Physician here. She shouldn’t need a routine physical just because she was overseas. If she has no health issues she doesn’t need any medical care before her summer job. If she has any lingering issues from her bouts with illnesses abroad she needs an appointment for acute care for them. Not emergent care but urgent enough to be seen soon. If ongoing health concerns exist she should see the physician who has been managing them before her out of country experience. I presume she has a regular physician whom she sees on a regular basis and who writes those prescriptions for her- this person will know her and her health history for those chronic conditions. It can be a good idea for her to have a college town physician for ongoing medical care if she will be there instead of returning to your hometown physician easily for ongoing care. In this case have her check with the travel clinic for recommendations or her family physician.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the good advice. I was feeling panicked yesterday for several reasons. When my daughter was first diagnosed with her chronic conditions she tended to be a “non compliant adolescent patient” and old habits (of thought, on my part) die hard. I see that it makes sense to wait until she’s back in the states to see if she still has specific symptoms and, if so, have her call the travel clinic for followup care and/or a referral. She’s due for a physical this summer and may decide to travel after her job is done so I’ll probably suggest that she contact the Women’s Health Specialists Clinic or someone else locally for her physical and ongoing routine care from here on out. We don’t expect her to be coming home for very often or very long at this point.</p>