The Rome Center offers free-of-charge on-campus consultation with an English-speaking Nurse during regularly scheduled office hours twice per week during the Fall and Spring semesters. The hours will be advertised during Orientation and posted throughout the campus.
The nurse may examine students and/or recommend follow-up attention at private or state facilities in the area. The nurse closely collaborates with an English-speaking Doctor who can prescribe medication and will also come to the JFRC Campus to visit you. The Doctor’s services, however, will have to be paid through your CISI Policy and this means that you will be responsible for the first 100,00 Euro (deductible) part of the cost of all the visits which are part of a single “occurrence” (i.e., a single health episode).
We strongly recommend that you and your family familiarize yourself with the CISI Policy which will cover you for health care costs while in Rome.
Students who take regular prescriptions, for both physical or mental health, should talk with their doctor before traveling to Rome and, if possible, arrive in Italy with enough medication to last the whole time while abroad. This is also true for contact lenses, over-the-counter cold and allergy medicines, and vitamins. American prescriptions are not honored here. You will also be asked to pay the full market price and then you must file independently with your insurance for refund.
It is of paramount importance to ask your primary physician and/or Psychiatrist to write a letter indicating your diagnosis, medication prescribed (including doses) and the length of time for which the medication is indicated. This will allow you to arrange refill prescriptions more easily. On many occasions, our Campus Doctor will be able to write out refill prescriptions IF this letter is presented to him.
All student rooms are equipped with refrigerators in which medicines that need to be kept cold can be stored. If special security is required to store your medication, please do contact the Student Life Team to work out storage details. The infirmary does not provide medication. Medication can be obtained easily at a local pharmacy.
Please be aware that it is illegal to have medication mailed to a student in Italy and it will be stopped at customs.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON ADD & ADHD MEDICATION:
Adderal is NOT available in Italy. However, there are some similar, yet not identical, medications that can be prescribed.
It is highly unlikely that any Physician will prescribe you enough ADHD medication for your stay in Rome. However, please be aware that the prescription of this kind of medication is complex in Italy because it requires a specially certified Psychiatrist. Therefore, we ask you to come and meet the Campus Psychotherapist during the first couple of weeks in Rome to discuss arrangements for a follow-up psychiatric visit for a medication refill.
Delays in arranging such follow-ups will result in running out of medication that may be essential to you and may well create distress and contribute to significant crisis. Studying abroad will also mean that you may be in charge, for the first time, of coordinating your self-care – physical and emotional. Please take this task seriously and use the support we offer efficiently.
