Your medical record is a collection of information about vaccinations, hospital visits, counselling, prescribed medications, diagnoses, and any other medical information that your current or future doctor could need in relation to your health. Your healthcare provider will advise you IF they feel it is helpful for you to transfer your record. Below you will find information on how to transfer your record, if it is required.
Why should you transfer your medical records?
- Continuity of care, especially for chronic medical or mental health conditions
- Past medical history that may affect current or new conditions (your own & your family history)
- Allergies
- Drug interactions
What records should you bring or have transferred?
You often do not need to transfer your entire medical record, but some things that will be useful during your time at Dal are:
- Vaccination records
- Records for chronic conditions (diabetes, ADHD*, depression, Crohn’s, etc.) that require medications and/or appointments with specialists
- For females: last pap smear
*If you have a prescription for ADHD medications from another province, it will not be valid in Nova Scotia. You will need to make an appointment to receive a valid prescription.
How do you transfer your records?
If your doctor requires a transfer of your records, there are a couple ways you can request this information.
Request a copy of your records from your family doctor/provider
You can request a copy of your medical records from your family doctor/provider and bring them to the Student Health & Wellness Centre.
or Ask Dalhousie Student Health & Wellness to request a transfer
You can make an appointment at the Student Health & Wellness where you can fill out and sign a form to be faxed to your family doctor/provider to have your records transferred (there is a $30 single or $60 family service fee).
Note: Your family doctor will not have the records of the vaccines you received in school or at another clinic. To request school vaccine records, contact the public health office in the area where you grew up.