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What is a travel clinic? A travel clinic is a clinic where travel medicine is dispensed. Travel medicine has become an important and increasingly prominent subspecialty in medicine in the past 10-15 years. It entails much more than administering vaccines:
> Individualized risk assessment (health history of the individual, destination, planned activities, and length of stay) > Risk management, providing immunizations and recommending medication for conditions the traveler may encounter in their destination (malaria, traveler's diarrhea, altitude sickness, etc.)
Can't I just visit my family doctor? Why is the travel doctor different? If you are a low-risk traveler (traveling for business to a developed country and staying in a five-star resort), then your family doctor can suggest minor precautions to help you have a safe and healthy trip.
However, if you are planning to do backpacking or visit remote areas and “live off the land,” you may require a full set of immunizations and detailed medical advice before you leave. This advice is generally best provided by a doctor who specializes in travel medicine.
For more information, call or visit your local travel clinic for advice on planning a safe and healthy trip.
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