June 28th, 2005
drowning in a sea of paper
Law School Health Center requires that I send them my immunization records. This poses a small problem, since they require that my physician fill out the immunization records section of my health forms. Unfortunately, my physician doesn’t have my immunization records on file because, duh, she hasn’t been my physician my whole life.
I have a copy of my immunization records that I somehow obtained from my undergraduate school’s heath center. But I don’t trust that they still have my records on file, and I don’t trust them to send any forms to Law School Health Center.
My physician says they will take my copy of my immunization records (an original, stamped copy) and Xerox it and forward it to Law School Health Center along with the rest of the form that they’re supposed to fill out (or that I think they have to fill out; more on that below). But they can’t certify any immunization dates and records for shots that they didn’t administer. And I haven’t had any shots done by my physician.
How do people get this stuff done? Unless you’ve been going to the same doctor your whole life, how can you get your immunization records certified? I know I’ve had all my shots—after all, I was allowed to enroll at my undergraduate institution, and they required all the shots—but how do I prove this to Law School when I’ve changed doctors so many times over the course of my life?
I guess I have to call Law School Health Center and find out if I can bring that stamped, original copy of my immunization records to them in person (thankfully, the deadline for turning it in is not until September 30) to fulfill that requirement. Meanwhile, I have to figure out which parts of the other forms are required—the main instructions say, “Law students don’t have to fill out Part II,” and page 2 says, “Law students don’t have to fill out this page.” But page 2 has part II (not required) AND part III (required?). I have no clue. And those pages are required by July 15!
Gah! Bureaucracy! Infuriating!
Update: Law School Health Center was wonderful. The guy I spoke to laughed when i said my doctor wouldn’t sign the form because they didn’t give me any of my immunizations. He said, if that copy of your immunization records has been signed at some point by a doctor or nurse practitioner, we just need to see a copy of it (not even the original!). And I don’t have to have my doctor fill out part III on page 2. I just have to fill out pages 1 and 4 and attach that copy of my immunizations and I’ll be done with it. Relief! Joy!
comments
I was able to get my immunization stuff from my pediatrician when I was getting ready to get my masters a few years ago…if you know the name of your last pediatrician, they can probably forward you those records.
Good luck!
Nah, that won’t work. I actually had my last immunizations done right before college at the county health center. We bounced around between doctors a lot when I was a kid.
In fact, the immunization records my undergraduate health center had (and that I have a copy of) are the most complete and accurate, since I had a booster in college as well as some other shots for an overseas trip. But that office was really incompetant, so I don’t want to have to rely on them for ANYTHING.
Is your law school really serious about the physicial filling out the immunization records? My form also said my doctor had to fill it out, but like you, I’ve gone to a dozen doctors since my first immunization. I just filled in the form myself and my doctor signed it.
oops, I meant the “physician,” not the “physical.”
(and my comment from work worked!)
Yeah, I don’t know. I called my doctor’s office and they said they couldn’t sign off on anything they didn’t administer; they’d just attach the copy of the records I have.
Basically, I’m whining about this because I really don’t want to call Law School Health Center. Pain, pain, pain.
Your doctor is being annoying and overly risk-averse, IMO.
There are advantages to having a family of doctors, I guess:
TP: “Dad, fill this out and sign it.”
Dr. Pa TP: “Okay.”
I think TP is right. You either need a doctor you know, or a doctor who doesn’t care (which, for once, I’m glad I have).
You are so on target with this post. My mother has the dates of my vaccinations, but I cannot get my doc to sign that they are valid. I have to get blood test to prove vaccination to a host of diseases, etc. What in the hell are they expecting us to have…records from when we are children that are signed by a physician? Come on people…get a clue!
Hm. I do have a cousin who is a doctor. That might work.
My school has said nothing about vaccinations so I searched the requirements, and grad students only need vaccinations if they live on campus.
Lucky! This has been more headache than it needed to be, quite honestly.
I’m in a similar situation. My parents were cheap and I received shots from local clinic. I don’t even have a family doctor…!
Fast forward to the present.
I called to see if I could get my immune records signed by a doc in my HMO group. No such luck. They said I have to sign-up for a physical exam that has a month-long waiting list. I wanted to scream “DO I LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WHO COULD WAIT A MONTH??!!”
I had a good reason to yell at the poor schmuck. This is the same stupid HMO that kept me waiting for 2-1/2 freaking hours even though I had an appointment to see the doctor (I arrived just on time) and I had to take extra time off work because of the wait.
Ooops..sorry…totally off the subject. But yeah, filling out the immunization form is a pain in the neck because that means I have to deal with my healthcare provider.
Hmmm. I didn’t have to provide any immunization records. Good thing too. They were using stone tablets back then.
Thank god my mom still lives in our hometown, and that my sister’s kids now go to our pediatrician, or I’d have been SOL on this one too.
I had the same thing happen to me when I was starting law school years ago. It turned out that the @#$%! course of least resistance was to just let the health center re-immunize me. What a scam.