Dear Parents and Families of New Students,
On behalf of our team at the Counseling and Mental Health Service (CMHS), welcome to Tufts! CMHS services include short-term individual and group counseling for eligible students. Our services are confidential, and, with the exception of medication visits, they are provided at no charge. If your student is currently receiving mental health care, continuity is important, and it is important to make sure they have connected with care in the local community to support them through their transition to school. Students looking for a long-term therapist or psychiatrist are encouraged to utilize our off-campus referral page to begin contacting providers around Tufts to determine availability and fit. Students interested in receiving support while they get connected to a provider in the community can contact our Care Manager, Jimmy Kane.
Psychiatric services at CMHS are available for students who are concurrently engaged with a local therapist. Once a student has connected with a local provider, the therapist can refer the student directly to our psychopharmacology team by completing the psychiatry referral form. There are no charges for psychiatry visits for students covered by the student health insurance. Students not covered by the student health insurance are charged $100 on their tuition bill for each follow-up visit. For questions regarding fees/billing or insurance coverage, contact StudentHealthInsurance@tufts.edu.
Labs: Please note that some medications require lab work. If your student is seeing an off-campus prescriber, we recommend finding a local lab. If they are being seen in CMHS' Psychiatry Service, they can get lab work done on site if Quest Labs is in-network with your insurance company.
Reminders
To help make your student’s transition to Tufts as smooth as possible, we recommend the following:
- Take a picture of their insurance card: We recommend your student take a picture of their insurance card (front and back) and keep it on their phone for safekeeping and easy access.
- Find a local provider: Start early. Begin looking for providers in the Medford/Somerville and Boston areas over the summer. Your insurance company can help your student navigate their website to find an in-network provider.
- Medication management: If possible, your student should get a 3-month supply of any prescriptions they’re taking to cover their needs while looking for a local provider and/or pharmacy.
- Identify a local pharmacy: Contact your insurance company to find the best pharmacy options for you in the area. We have a CVS and a Rite Aid in Davis Square. Inman Pharmacy delivers to Health Service two times per day during weekdays, and Capsule Pharmacy delivers to student housing.
- Transfer your prescription to the local pharmacy of your choice: Once you have identified a pharmacy, you can contact them and they can provide you with instructions on which prescriptions can be transferred and how.
- Consider enrolling your student in optional Tuition Insurance: Tuition Insurance protects financial commitments if your student elects to take time away from their studies in the form of a Medical Leave. Enrollment in the Tuition Insurance Plan will be open from the beginning of July until the first day of classes, September 6, 2022.
Additional Resources
- We encourage you to explore the CMHS web page for more information about our services, common mental health issues, self-help, and referral resources.
- In addition to the services provided by CMHS, the Office of Health Promotion and Prevention offers a range of trainings, educational opportunities, and resources related to alcohol and other drugs, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and stress management, among others. Review a list of their services, or contact Health Promotion for more information.
- Tufts has an office specifically dedicated to sexual health and sexual misconduct prevention, the Center for Awareness, Resources, and Education (CARE). We encourage any student impacted by sexual misconduct to seek resources through CARE or to contact the CARE office with questions or concerns related to sexual health or the University’s Sexual Misconduct Policy or Process.
A Note on "Universal Consent"
Each year, we receive inquiries from parents about having their student sign an unlimited consent that allows disclosures of health information by Health Service and/or CMHS providers to the parents under all circumstances. It is our policy not to accept blanket unlimited advance permission to discuss either physical or mental health matters, and in many cases, we are prohibited by law from honoring a blanket permission and prohibited from disclosing health information without a student’s express consent. It is our policy to ask for consent on a situation-by-situation basis. You can learn more about this policy on the portion of the Health Service web page that outlines patient confidentiality and on the confidentiality statement on the CMHS web page.
Again, welcome to Tufts. We're excited to see your student on campus this August! Until then, if you missed our webinar titled "Managing Your Health and Wellness as a Student at Tufts" from earlier this month, a recording of it is available on the Orientation web page under "Video Resources."
Best wishes,
Jennifer M. Berrios
Director of Administration and Operations
Julie S. Ross, Ph.D.
Director, Counseling and Mental Health Service
