UK 2014 applicants!!

[Staffie]

Just an FYI - they will re-imburse you for your rabies vaccine if you want it and get it here (which most Americans will). As long as you say you are going on EMS somewhere that requires it (ie anywhere in the US). Which saves you a lot of money!

Who at RVC is best to contact about rabies vaccine reimbursement? I was thinking about going ahead and getting it over here in the UK this summer before I start. It seems like a good idea to get it done before I get started with classes just in case I react badly. I do plan on doing some of my EMS in the US in the future, so I definitely want to get vaccinated. I would like to contact RVC to see if they'll reimburse for it even if I got it done before officially enrolling in September. I can contact the Admissions department, but I feel bad about asking them so many questions and I'm not sure they'll know the answer. Any advice on who to contact or what department?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[shortnsweet]

Who at RVC is best to contact about rabies vaccine reimbursement? I was thinking about going ahead and getting it over here in the UK this summer before I start. It seems like a good idea to get it done before I get started with classes just in case I react badly. I do plan on doing some of my EMS in the US in the future, so I definitely want to get vaccinated. I would like to contact RVC to see if they'll reimburse for it even if I got it done before officially enrolling in September. I can contact the Admissions department, but I feel bad about asking them so many questions and I'm not sure they'll know the answer. Any advice on who to contact or what department?

Erm...I got my rabies vax for free in the UK, just fyi. If you go to a travel clinic and can prove to them it's occupational, NHS should cover you.

 

[Staffie]

Erm...I got my rabies vax for free in the UK, just fyi. If you go to a travel clinic and can prove to them it's occupational, NHS should cover you.

I’ve spent a long time looking into how to go about getting vaccinated against rabies in the UK. My GP insists that anything at all work related should be covered by your employer’s occupational health department. This includes university students as well. She wouldn’t even help me find out how to get a TB skin test. She insisted that it was an occupational health issue and that I should find a private hospital or clinic. This was even after I explained that I had lived in a country with high levels of TB for over two years. I cannot get TB tested on the NHS unless I have symptoms, which in my opinion is completely ridiculous because it makes no allowance for latent TB infections.

I looked on NHS websites to see if there’s any way to get the rabies vaccine through them. According to the website:

“Bat handlers who regularly handle bats are entitled to a free pre-exposure vaccine on the NHS – your GP will order this from Public Health England. For other groups, the vaccine is not available on the NHS and should be obtained through their employer’s occupational health department. If you need to pay for the vaccination privately, you can either visit your GP surgery or a travel clinic. The price for the complete course of three doses ranges from £120 to £170.”​

This is even though at the top of the same page it says that the rabies vaccine is recommended for “people working abroad in close contact with animals, such as vets or animal handlers at zoos.” They seem to say it’s recommended, but go on to say they won’t pay for it.

So, my plan was to get the vaccine from Boots or Superdrug for £165. Since Tonkamoo mentioned that RVC will reimburse for the cost of the vaccine I wanted to investigate how to go about that.

As for why you were able to get your rabies vaccination for free, I have a few ideas:

• Maybe things have changed since you had your shots.
• I presume you had them in Scotland. NHS Scotland is much more generous than NHS England (for instance, prescriptions are free for everyone in Scotland, but only some groups of people can get them for free in England). Perhaps NHS Scotland does them for free?
• Maybe you were supposed to be charged, but got lucky and found a clinic that didn’t know or just didn’t want to charge you.

 

[laitmanvet]

I'm pretty sure you can't just walk into a clinic (NHS or private) in England and, even if you can prove its for work, get it outright free. I went to an NHS clinic, paid for it, kept the receipts and then filled out RVC's paperwork and they reimbursed me. It was very easy. You can also use a private clinic which is obviously more convenient in terms of scheduling.

To answer your question, I don't think you'll be able to get it beforehand for free. The RVC paperwork needs a signature from your tutor, which you don't have yet, and it needs you to list what you're getting it for.
Also, I wouldn't get it too early anyways. Instead of testing for titers after a year, in the UK they just vaccinate again yearly. So I was told after a year because I was still working in an "at risk" area I should just get another vaccine (which you can also get reimbursed for). And you really won't need it until you're doing EMS in 3rd year for the 5 year program or 2nd year for G&T.

 

[shortnsweet]

I’ve spent a long time looking into how to go about getting vaccinated against rabies in the UK. My GP insists that anything at all work related should be covered by your employer’s occupational health department. This includes university students as well. She wouldn’t even help me find out how to get a TB skin test. She insisted that it was an occupational health issue and that I should find a private hospital or clinic. This was even after I explained that I had lived in a country with high levels of TB for over two years. I cannot get TB tested on the NHS unless I have symptoms, which in my opinion is completely ridiculous because it makes no allowance for latent TB infections.

I looked on NHS websites to see if there’s any way to get the rabies vaccine through them. According to the website:

“Bat handlers who regularly handle bats are entitled to a free pre-exposure vaccine on the NHS – your GP will order this from Public Health England. For other groups, the vaccine is not available on the NHS and should be obtained through their employer’s occupational health department. If you need to pay for the vaccination privately, you can either visit your GP surgery or a travel clinic. The price for the complete course of three doses ranges from £120 to £170.”​

This is even though at the top of the same page it says that the rabies vaccine is recommended for “people working abroad in close contact with animals, such as vets or animal handlers at zoos.” They seem to say it’s recommended, but go on to say they won’t pay for it.

So, my plan was to get the vaccine from Boots or Superdrug for £165. Since Tonkamoo mentioned that RVC will reimburse for the cost of the vaccine I wanted to investigate how to go about that.

As for why you were able to get your rabies vaccination for free, I have a few ideas:

• Maybe things have changed since you had your shots.
• I presume you had them in Scotland. NHS Scotland is much more generous than NHS England (for instance, prescriptions are free for everyone in Scotland, but only some groups of people can get them for free in England). Perhaps NHS Scotland does them for free?
• Maybe you were supposed to be charged, but got lucky and found a clinic that didn’t know or just didn’t want to charge you.

Yes...I was in Scotland. The Travel Clinic all of us went to at Glasgow didn't charge any of us going to Morocco on a rotation. I didn't get mine until a year ago ie during my final year, so I doubt they've changed too much? NHS was....special, so I understand your frustration.

As for the TB test, Glasgow did that during Orientation week for us for free as well. They asked me if I wanted the shot and I declined.