When making travel plans one of the most important parts of your planning should be seeing a travel medicine doctor before your trip. Whether your trip is across the country or international it is important to consult with a travel medicine doctor to ensure that your travels are healthy and safe.
A travel medicine video chat consultation can be a quick and easy way to prepare for your trip abroad. A video travel medicine doctor appointment can help you to be prepared for anything as simple as motion sickness to malaria. The only requirement is a computer or mobile phone (to which you download a free app) and you are ready to initiate your face-to-face travel medicine video chat consultation.
The process for registering for a video chat consultation is quick and easy. It is accomplished online by registering with the telemedicine company of your choice. You will be asked to provide information regarding your family health history, personal health history, insurance information (not required), choice of local pharmacy, allergies, and any present or pre-existing health issues and medications you are taking.
Once you have requested a travel medicine video chat consultation you will receive a selection of U.S. board certified travel medicine doctors licensed in your state to choose from that are available for a video chat consultation on the date and time frame you have requested. It typically is just a matter of minutes to get a response to your request for an appointment. It should be noted that travel medicine is a specialty practice and response time may vary due to doctor availability in your state.
How A Video Chat Doctor Will Conduct a Travel Medicine Consultation?
Your face-to-face travel medicine video chat doctor appointment will likely take a bit longer than your typical doctor’s office visit simply because there may be a lot more questions and answers required than your ordinary doctor appointment say for a cold or the flu. The doctor will have already reviewed the medical history you have filled out when you registered online with the telemedicine company you chose, and then will begin asking you a series of questions regarding your current and past health history, travel itinerary, activities, lodgings and any other questions the doctor feels relevant to your travel medicine consultation. After which the doctor will combine all the information you have supplied as well as a visual examination of you to make a detailed outline of the advice you will need to have a safe and healthy trip abroad. The doctor will provide you with a list of all the medical supplies you should pack for your trip from malaria prevention to over-the-counter medications you should bring along such as treatment for motion sickness and travelers diarrhea to first aid kits, ointments and creams. Naturally the travel kit the doctor will advise you to put together will be based on your travel itinerary and activities. The doctor will answer any questions you may have regarding your travel medicine video consultation. The doctor will also prescribe any prescription medications he or she deems necessary for your travels. The doctor may also prescribe prescription medication you are currently taking in larger quantities to ensure that you have sufficient medication to last through the duration of your travels and return. Should inoculations be required for your travel itinerary the doctor will refer you to the closest travel medicine specialist in your area. What Information You Will Need to Have Ready For The Doctor In preparation of your face-to-face travel medicine video chat you should prepare a list of the information you will need to provide the doctor with, it should include:- Your age.
- What countries you have on your itinerary.
- What regions of those countries you will be staying in.
- What order you will be visiting these countries.
- What time of the year (season) it will be there and duration of your stay.
- Where within these countries you may be visiting; trips, excursions.
- Whether you will be staying in air-conditioned hotels, open-air tents, mosquito netted bedding, with family or friends and the living/sleeping conditions there.
- What types of activities you will be doing in these countries such as; scuba diving, river rafting, canoeing, hiking, camping, safari
- Whether you have traveled internationally before and if so what countries.
- When you traveled to foreign destinations before.
- What vaccinations you have had in the past.
- When you had the vaccinations and how many doses.
- Whether you have had any allergic reactions to vaccinations in the past.
