This is for the Houston Campus only
The following is information for incoming students that will make your entry into Baylor College of Medicine smooth. You are expected to review our information and meet the stated requirements.
First, you should register on our website. The information you provide is used by Occupational Health and is unrelated to your course schedule. It simply allows us to process your records.
You will need to provide immunization records and complete other paperwork. The State of Texas requires students in healthcare-related fields to have been immunized against certain diseases. You may not be allowed to complete registration and start classes on time unless your complete vaccination information is on file with OHP by the deadline.
Please complete the forms below and submit proper documentation. Forms and records relating to vaccinations should be sent to OHP by using the link for document submission, which maintains employee/student records. Records are confidential. Please do not send them to your program, the Office of Student Affairs or the Registrar.
Keep in mind that some vaccination requirements can take months to complete, so plan accordingly. If you will be traveling or unavailable for large blocks of time, please do not wait until returning to address your vaccine requirements. For example, hepatitis B is a three-shots series over six months. If you wait until the deadline to start the series, even if you start classes on time, you will not be able to participate in certain aspects of your required courses.
The expectation is that you will have completed all of the shots in a particular vaccine series before starting.
Deadlines for Vaccines
You will not be allowed to complete registration or start classes on time unless we have received your complete vaccination records.
- For medical students the deadline is May 24, 2024.
- For physician assistant and orthotic-prosthetic students the deadline is May 24, 2024.
- For graduate students (Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences) and genetics counseling students the deadline is June 21, 2024.
Pointers for Submitting Records
You must submit copies of your actual immunization record or actual lab test immunity. Titers are preferred over vaccines. Although vaccination does meet our requirements, some hospitals require proof of immunity (positive titer). We do not accept undocumented statements that you have been vaccinated or are immune; you need to submit copies of the records. Some electronic record systems print vaccine summaries with dates, but do not indicate if there was documentation of the vaccine (e.g., some of the EPIC MyChart Summaries). Some of these printouts might not be sufficient.
If you do not have copies of your records, get them. You can get copies from the clinic that administered the service. Schools that you have attended should provide you a copy of your records. Many of these are good quality records. As a healthcare professional, you should have good records of your health. The issue of immunizations will arise throughout the rest of your career. See Additional Advice for Submitting Vaccine Records.
Indicate "Incoming student 2024-N," where N represents your area of study (M.D., PA, GPNA, OP, GSBS, Genetic Counseling) on all correspondence. This will help us properly route your records.
You can submit scanned copies of your records. Keep in mind a few things. Records must be in a single PDF formatted file. Please do not send JPG, TIF formatted documents or photos (e.g. from your phone) of records. The system does not support zip files. File size should be less than 5 MB total.
Use this link for submitting records only. It is not for inquiries or general correspondence.
If you mail records, regular ground delivery is usually adequate to assure we receive them. The problems we encounter with "lost mail" usually arise when you rely on a third party to mail your records. Again, you are strongly encouraged to send records to us yourself rather than relying on your doctor's office, your school or other clinic to send them. All mail, including overnight envelopes, are processed through the Baylor mailroom. Expedited delivery may be a reasonable option if sending documents internationally.
You can send partial records to us as they are available (e.g., copy of tetanus records now and hepatitis B titer later) rather than waiting until all of them are available.
If you have additional questions regarding vaccine record submission, please see our FAQ page.
Processing of Your Records
Typical processing times once we have received the records are within one week until May and about two weeks after then. Be sure to register with us (described above) so we can communicate with you.
OHP will send you an email after the records are reviewed, but we do not have the ability to confirm that we have received them prior to reviewing them. We send a notification once we have reviewed the records.
Communicating with OHP
We realize that you have many deadlines, forms, and matters to complete before starting. Most of the questions or issues you will encounter involving vaccination requirements are addressed on our website.
However, do contact us if you have questions or concerns that are not addressed elsewhere on our site. Our email for inquiries or general correspondence is ohp@bcm.edu. Please note that we typically will not respond to messages where the answer is readily available on our website. So, please review our information. Further, if you do contact us, please ensure that your message has a specific question to address. Messages such as "Please call me, I had a question about vaccine records" will usually get a response that simply refers you to our website.
Student Forms
The forms in this section must be completed and returned to OHP with proper documentation.
Forms for medical students, physician assistant students, orthotic/prosthetic students, and nurse anesthetist students.
- Student Immunization Record
- Immunization Requirements Form
- TB Respirator Questionnaire
- HIPAA Acknowledgment
Forms for graduate school of biomedical sciences students.
Students who are training at affiliate institutions may be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID or have an affiliate-approved exemption regarding that vaccination. See the full policy (Baylor login required).
Additional Information
Have Questions?
Read the Occupational Health Program's list of frequently asked questions.
