Vaccinations for medicine?

Siouxky

Hey,

So I'm hopefully starting medicine this year and was just wondering do we need certain vaccinations. I don't have my childhood vaccinations except MMR and I read on NMM that british schools require getting advance Hep shots prior to beginning?

Any insight?

PhysiologyRocks

UCC gave us the ones we needed.

I'm from Cork so they gave me the BCG. Also had trouble getting immune to rubella, so have had 2 MMRs in first year (have now had 5 but am finally immune!). Some got the varicella one AFAIK. They gave us all the Hep B ones. I think you need your tetanus shots up to date for dissection.

They did a blood test to determine our immunity. Also tested us for Hep B and C and HIV before starting.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.:)

Siouxky

Ah great, they sort it out for you?

As long as I dont have to worry about doing it myself!

Cheers

PhysiologyRocks

They sort everything except tetanus out (in UCC anyway, I think it's similar everywhere, though).

We had to pay a fee, but they gave us money back if we were immune.

Brods

If you go to trinity expect to pay through your nose... Hep B is over a hundred euro, a requirement and definitely worth getting but I think there's probably a way to get them free if you were to go to an sti clinic...

sillymoo

Brods wrote: »

If you go to trinity expect to pay through your nose... Hep B is over a hundred euro, a requirement and definitely worth getting but I think there's probably a way to get them free if you were to go to an sti clinic...

Its is over 100euro in RCSI too from what I remember. I got the Hep B from my own GP as I had an offer from Scotland and had to get them before I went. Worked out more expensive than what RCSI charge.

Im not sure if you can get it in an STI clinic for free tbh does not seem likely. I used to work as a HCA and I know when they checked my Hep B levels in the hospital I was working in they said that if I required a booster it would be gven to me for free.

etymon

hmm... I already have Hep B, tetanus, diphtheria, among other tropical ones, and all the ones as a child like MMR.
Am I still going to have to shell out?!

mcdermla

It's awful that you have to pay at all! I'm studying nursing in Trinity and that means lots of immunisations and they're ALL free. We also got the Mantoux (anti-TB) vaccination and the option of a flu shot.

Biologic

BCG is the TB vaccine, Mantoux is the diagnostic test for infection.

sillymoo

etymon wrote: »

hmm... I already have Hep B, tetanus, diphtheria, among other tropical ones, and all the ones as a child like MMR.
Am I still going to have to shell out?!

Once your antibody levels are adequate you should be grand. You may have to pay for the blood test to test the levels though - I did.

Sid_Justice

are these covered by VHI?

mcdermla

Biologic wrote: »

BCG is the TB vaccine, Mantoux is the diagnostic test for infection.

Well pardon me for not getting into semantics! I have a horrid memory of Mantoux as I developed a rash afterwrads which meant there were live TB cells in my body and that I was more susceptible to contracting TB, BCG is useless!

Brods

The national immunisation guidelines reccommend the vaccine to health care workers and students, it's been introduced into the childhood immunisation protocol, which as far as I'm aware everyone gets free...

Bit of a farce that students have to pay. Also, I don't see why they would give it to nursing students and not medical students- we're the idiots who think its great fun to put in canulas before we really know what we're doing.

It's also recommended for people who change sex partners frequently, MSMs and people who present to an STI clinic or with a history of an STI. Not saying this is every student, but a high proportion of students should probably have been to an STI clinic whether they'll admit it or not.

From my rotation in GUIDE in james's, i think it was offered to people who came in. And the whole service there is free. I'd certainly go in and ask instead of shelling out if I had to get it again....

Echani

Sid_Justice wrote: »

are these covered by VHI?

No I don't think any vaccinations are covered. The MMR is provided free by the state, the rest you usually have to pay yourself. You also usually have to pay to have your antibody titres done, unless it's for an occupational health issue like following a needle stick.