If you are a college student who lives with a chronic illness, you know it is likely that you will need to seek help from a medical professional at some point during the school year. If you have not already read my Managing Health in College: Making the Plan post, go read it for tips on preparing for school as a person with chronic illness. One of the tips in that post is to make a medical information folder. Below is a checklist and template you can use when making your own medical information folder!

*starred items are not outlined in the template

• A letter from your primary care provider explaining emergency care you are likely to need (you could also use the the LDSF printable emergency alert card)* 
• Blood type
• Allergies to any medications 
• Emergency contacts
• List of your diagnoses (i.e. Loeys-Dietz Syndrome, aortic aneurysm, and asthma)
• Information about any rare condition you have (LDS medical guide lines info here)*
• List of surgeries you have had and the doctor who performed them
• List of medications you take, dosage and the prescriber
• List of your allergies (medication and other)
• Contact information of the doctors that you see (PCP, cardiologist and other specialists)
• A copy of your insurance card*
• A copy of your immunization record (your university will most likely want to see it)*
• Any other documents or information you would want to have access to if you needed to establish with a new doctor or have emergency medical treatment in a new hospital system.*
• Also keep any notes/summaries from appointments that you have while you are at school so that you can refer to them later and discuss them with your PCP if needed.