Vaccine advice for applicant

[Numpostrophe]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey everyone,
I am starting a new medication for eczema and was advised by the pharmacist and dermatologist to get needed immunizations now because the medication is known to lower vaccine response. I realize that medical schools require stricter vaccine requirements than undergrad (for which I was compliant) and I'm wondering if it would be best to get those now before potentially matriculating in 2023.

Do any medical students have a list of their requirements? I assume I'll need Tdap, a meningitis booster, and potentially others.

 

[Goro]

Hey everyone,
I am starting a new medication for eczema and was advised by the pharmacist and dermatologist to get needed immunizations now because the medication is known to lower vaccine response. I realize that medical schools require stricter vaccine requirements than undergrad (for which I was compliant) and I'm wondering if it would be best to get those now before potentially matriculating in 2023.

Do any medical students have a list of their requirements? I assume I'll need Tdap, a meningitis booster, and potentially others.

Hepatitis B titers, and COVID-19 vaccination for sure. Flu, most probably.

 

[wook]

MMR

Measles
Mumps
Rubella

 

[GoSpursGo]

Honestly, the med school requirements are pretty similar to what are recommended for "normal" people (i.e. everyone should get a Tdap booster at regular intervals). I might start with your PCP, see what vaccines they think are recommended, and get those.

Also in general they're going to look for your vaccine record. While it's possible for a few they may ask for titers, the likely remedy is just that they would make you get a booster. If your titers are low for a medically documented reason they're probably not going to kick you out.

Most importantly, get vaccines because it is good for your health.

 

[Numpostrophe]

Thanks everyone. I don't mind getting vaccines I just wanted to be proactive before their effectiveness is diminished somewhat.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

It’s so annoying to be honest. Med schools require a specific titer level and if you don’t have it you have to get the whole series again. Yeah, I’m sure a hep B titer of 9.7 is really less effective than an arbitrary cutoff like 10.2

In other words, make sure your titers are relatively high and if not start your dosing now.

 

[ElTacoGrande]

It's very school dependent, you prob have all the basic ones, hep B is the only complicated one since it's spread out every 3 months until your titers are high enough ? Though some schools make that optional too. Also, I believe you can wait until you're accepted and figure it out exactly since I haven't seen a place yet that won't let you start as long as you've started taking whatever your titers are low on. I was looking into this too and came to the conclusion there's not enough of a consensus to make it worthwhile to do anything in advance.