Basic Requirements

All University of Iowa students are required to have received two vaccinations against measles (rubeola), mumps, and rubella (MMR); have laboratory titers indicating immunity to measles, mumps and rubella; or to have been born before 1957 in order to comply with the University's immunization requirement.

In addition, international students and all health science students are required to be tested for tuberculosis after arriving in the USA (international students must be tested at the University of Iowa within their first semester at the University of Iowa, and health science students are tested annually). It is important that you attend the student health orientation session listed on your ISSS Orientation Schedule to learn additional information on these requirements. To obtain your orientation schedule, please complete the Online Pre-Arrival Checklist.

Tuberculin Blood Draw

You will be given a tuberculosis screening on the day of the clinic. If the result appears positive, you will be contacted by Student Health and you will need to get a chest x-ray. A volunteer will assist you in making the chest x-ray appointment and will take you to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinic where the chest x-ray will be performed.

If you are enrolled in the SHIP health insurance program through the University of Iowa, this insurance policy will pay for all but a small deductible amount (around $10) for the chest x-ray. However, there is a slight possibility that the information on your insurance will not be in the system when the billing is done for the chest x-ray and you may be billed for the full cost of the chest x-ray. If this happens to you, do not pay the bill and contact the University Benefits Office, 120-40 USB or 335-2676, to ask for your Blue Cross-Blue Shield ID number for the SHIP plan. If you are a graduate student with an assistantship who chose to enroll in the UIGRADCare plan, please make it clear that you are asking for the insurance ID number for the SHIP coverage and not for the ID number for UIGRADCare. You should either call the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) Customer Service at 356-2211 or go in person to the UIHC Business Office (Patient Accounts), Room CC102, in the General Hospital section of the UIHC. Be sure to have your insurance ID card available when you call or go in person to the office as the Billing Office will need several pieces of information from the card. If you go and do not yet have your insurance card, take your yellow booklet describing the SHIP health insurance plan. The UIHC Business Office will then be able to adjust the bill accordingly.

Your Immunization Clinic Appointment

During orientation, you will receive information about how to schedule your Immunization Clinic Appointment. Bring the immunization form to your designated Immunization Clinic Appointment. The clinic will require approximately 30-40 minutes of your time. Prior to the Immunization Clinic, you must attend the orientation session titled “Health Care Services and the University’s Immunization Requirement” (see orientation schedule for time/date/location). Please bring your UI student ID card and health records to the Health Care Services orientation session and to your designated Immunization Clinic Appointment.

If you have a time conflict with the Immunization Clinic or Health Care Services orientation session, please notify ISSS. Failure to attend the Immunization Clinic will result in a restriction of your registration for the next academic semester. The registration hold will be released after the requirement is fulfilled.