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Student Health Requirements

What you'll need

Immunization regulations for the State of Illinois require new students at RUSH University born after Jan. 1, 1957 to show proof of immunity to measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus and meningococcal conjugate, and all new admissions under the age of 22 shall show proof of having at least one dose of the vaccine on or after 16 years of age. In addition, your college may have other specific immunization and health requirements for which you are accountable regardless of your age. Please check with your respective college regarding specific requirements.

COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

Effective October 17, 2023, in alignment with the RUSH System for Health, RUSH University no longer requires the COVID-19 vaccine for students. The COVID-19 vaccine continues to be strongly recommended.

Information about staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines can be found here.

Information about finding a COVID-19 vaccine in the community can be found here.

Influenza Vaccination Requirement

RUSH University students are required to submit proof of influenza vaccination or submit a request for a medical or religious exemption during the annual flu season that typically occurs from October 1 – March 31. For more information, please review the RUSH Personnel Influenza Immunization Plan.

Students enrolled for Spring 2024 are required to submit influenza vaccination documentation by the first day of the term on Tuesday, January 2, 2024

*Note: Please use the Student_Health@rush.edu email when sending private health-related information from your official rush.edu email account for privacy and confidentiality.

 

Submitting your documentation

College of Nursing 

Students (including Students at Large) are required to submit Influenza vaccination records to the EXXAT System. For exemption requests, please review the required criteria needed to submit a request for either a medical or religious exemption via your EXXAT account. 

College of Health Sciences

Please see below for program-specific details on where to submit Influenza vaccination records or request for a medical or religious exemption:

Students at Large (SAL): If you receive your Influenza vaccination at a RUSH clinic site, no additional documentation is needed. If you receive your influenza vaccination outside of RUSH, you are required to submit your vaccination record to Student_Health@rush.edu.

Online-only programs: PhD in Health Sciences, Clinical Laboratory Management, Specialist in Blood Bank Technology, and Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition (CN.MS) students are not required to submit Influenza vaccination records or request an exemption.

All other CHS programs: Students are required to upload Influenza vaccination records into CastleBranch. For exemptions, please review the required criteria needed to submit either a medical or religious exemption via your CastleBranch account. 

RUSH Medical College

Please see below for program specific details on where to submit Influenza vaccination records or request for a medical or religious exemption:

Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program: Student vaccination records will be kept through Lifetime Medical Associates and entered directly into Epic. Student questions are to be directed to Lifetime Medical Associates at (312) 942-8000 or email Mary_Nicholas@rush.edu.

Division of Translational Science: Integrated Biomedical Sciences (PhD), Integrated Biomedical Sciences (MS), Clinical Research (MS) and Biotechnology (MS): If you receive your Influenza vaccination within RUSH, no additional documentation is needed. If you receive your influenza vaccination outside of RUSH, you are required to submit your vaccination record to Student_Health@rush.edu.

RMC Influenza Exemption Requests: Please submit your exemption request through the Student Immunization Exemption form. If you are a RUSH University student and a RUSH employee, please reach out to Student_Health@rush.edu with instructions on how to submit your exemption request. 

If you have any questions on where to submit your Influenza documentation, please reach out to Student_Health@rush.edu.