Back-to-School Health Checklist for College Students

Around this time of year, nearly 20 million students head to college in the United States for some higher learning — both in terms of education and making the first steps toward an independent adulthood.

This can be an incredibly exciting time in your life (or your child’s life), and you want every minute to count, which means protecting against being sidelined by illness.

To help, the experienced team of healthcare providers at Michigan Avenue Primary Care pulled together a checklist for college students that will go a long way toward staying healthy.

Get your school physical (if necessary)

If you have any mandatory school or sports physicals, we’re happy to help with these. Colleges and universities aren’t as strict about physicals as primary and high schools, but some still require that certain steps be taken, especially in the area of sports participation.

Whatever your school exam needs, we’re confident that this is one item on your list that we can easily check.

Get protection in place through vaccinations

When you get to college, you’re sharing a lot of spaces with others — from classrooms to cafeterias and from dorms to quads.

Given this level of exposure, it’s a great idea to make sure all of your vaccinations are up to date. At our practice, we offer a wide range of immunizations, including key ones for respiratory viruses, such as the flu, COVID-19, and RSV.

If you’re wondering about the availability of flu vaccines for the upcoming year, the FDA announced its recommendations for flu vaccination for 2025/26, and we’ve got what you need.

Get tested for STIs

Despite awareness and education efforts, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are still making their rounds in alarming numbers. For example, in 2023, there were more than 2.4 million cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia that were diagnosed and reported in the US.

Driving these numbers are younger age groups, so we recommend that you project yourself and others with regular sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing, which we’re equipped to perform here.

Make sure you have the prescriptions you need

If you have a chronic condition, such as diabetes or asthma, that requires medications, it’s a good idea to make sure you have everything you need before you head off to college.

We can sit down with you to review the medications you might need, and we make sure that there’s no interruption in your supply.

The bottom line is that if you check each of these items on your back-to-school health checklist, you’ll be setting yourself up for a successful and happy year ahead.

For help with your back-to-school health checklist, we invite you to contact us at our clinic in Chicago, Illinois, which is located in The Loop. You can also visit our urgent care center during operating hours, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4 pm.