You will be asked to review our Patient Rights and Responsibilities and sign to acknowledge that you reviewed and understand them at your first visit.
In addition to the Medical School’s wellness program offerings, all medical students enrolled in GSHIP are eligible for psychiatry treatment at SHC. At the Student Health Center, medical students are treated by staff, not residents, so that privacy protections are afforded. Also, medial students who require psychiatric hospitalization or higher levels of mental health care will be referred to community programs; the St. Joseph/Mission Hospital or College Hospital health systems where there are no faculty contacts in order to ensure privacy protections.
There are complex assessments related to security clearances, but what we know is that if you have an identified condition and fail to get it treated or do not follow a recommended treatment plan, this is considered much more problematic than getting a diagnosis and becoming stable. We know students with serious mental health conditions who have obtained security clearances because they have stabilized themselves through the hard work of treatment, and we know students who did not get clearances for trying to “present well” or hide parts of their past. To read more about military security clearances, visit Psychological Conditions and Security Clearances.
Note that a security clearance is different than qualifying to be a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO). Requirements are based on individual jurisdictions. In California, the current standards can be found here: https://post.ca.gov/Certification.
To be an active patient, you will need to be seen, on average, once every three (3) months by your doctor. In advance and as early as possible, you should discuss with your doctor any travel plans, including preparing for out-of-state or out-of-country field study, Education Abroad (EAP), or UCDC. Because your mental health needs can change based on your environment, and because most medical decisions are best made with a face-to-face visit, you will be encouraged to plan ahead for receiving health care at your destination site.
Ideally, this means identifying the location of your next practitioner(s) and sending a copy of your records well in advance so that your health care transition is smooth. An inability to do this may limit your medical and psychiatric clearance/approval to travel abroad, which is determined on a case-by-case basis. Our practitioners are licensed only to practice in the state of California. We do not find that telephone-only or secure-message-only decision making without an in-person examination, is safe or complies with ethical standards of care.
If you are going on a brief (e.g., < 2 month) holiday, please be advised that your pharmacy benefits may allow for a “vacation exception” where you can get a limited supply of your medications filled early to accommodate travel.
We adhere to University policies which retain your health records for 7 – 10 years, depending on the circumstance. We encourage you to transfer records to your next provider(s) upon graduation or completion of treatment for the best continuity of care. The whole record may be given to your next providers with your consent, and often, a summary of treatment is given to patients upon request in lieu of the entire record.
Unless your doctor or healthcare provider has excused your attendance (e.g. unplanned hospitalization), the independent decisions that you make to not attend class or not complete assignments will be your responsibility to address with your academic unit. We can provide a verification of your visit to UCI SHC and make recommendations as to your ability to return to full time school or work on the Verification of Visit Form, but we will not retroactively excuse you from your academic responsibilities unless we have made it a medical recommendation as part of your treatment plan on a case-by-case basis.
If you scheduled a healthcare appointment at UCI SHC that occurred during your academic schedule, or you had a UCI SHC appointment run late so that you were tardy to (e.g.) lecture, class, discussion, or lab, you can request a Verification of Visit Form from any UCI SHC staff member at the time of your visit. If the form is to be released directly to someone else, you will also need to sign an Authorization for Release of Health Information for us to send this to the designated entity.
Remember that it can take up to 15 business days to provide documentation.
If another UCI unit requires additional information about your medical or psychiatric condition, there is a slightly more detailed Verification of Treatment Form that a licensed healthcare professional can provide. You will also need to sign an Authorization for Release of Health Information for us to disclose this information to someone who is not you and for us to send this to a designated entity.
You should not be requesting these type of treatment verifications for individual professors or TA’s. If you have a medical condition that affects your academics, you are directed to register for an evaluation with UCI’s Disability Services Center.
For privacy reasons, it is not recommended for you to share any actual treatment record copies to academic personnel.
Remember that it can take up to 15 business days to provide documentation.
If you have a medical or mental health condition that requires academic accommodations, your healthcare provider will help refer you to the UCI Disability Services Center with your consent. From that point onward, your academic accommodations should be negotiated between the DSC and your professors/instructors.
Remember that it can take up to 15 business days to provide documentation.
No. You must have an existing/ongoing treatment relationship with our healthcare professionals before we will discuss disability accommodations, especially in psychiatry and mental health. You should NOT schedule an appointment to be seen just for the purpose of having disability forms completed. That is an inappropriate use of resources, and your appointment will be cancelled.
The role of your physicians and healthcare providers at SHC are to assist you in the diagnosis and treatment of a healthcare condition.
No. If you have an existing treatment relationship with a California-licensed healthcare provider, they are fully qualified to assist you in the necessary forms and supports for disability accommodations. You do NOT need to see a UCI SHC provider for these forms. In fact, you should go to your existing licensed provider who knows you best for this support.
The DSC will also accept documentation from licensed healthcare professionals who have a treatment relationship with you (e.g. from out-of-state).
Not every health condition, impairment, or diagnosis will constitute a disability. To add more complexity, there are different legal definitions of disability.
For example, the Social Security Administration defines disability in adults as not being able to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that is either expected to result in death, or has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months.1
This is very different from the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which prohibit discrimination and define disabilities as physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities or major bodily functions.2
Healthcare providers are not always able assess how you may or may not have impairments in these areas.
Physicians are not required to complete any discretionary paperwork, if in their medical opinion, the services/equipment are not medically indicated. The Medical Practice Act also does not preclude the physician from charging for this service. This is referenced directly from the Medical Board of California.3 (There may be similar practices for non-physician licensed healthcare professionals.)