To our Admitted Students,
My name is Cecilia Stuopis '90, and I am the chief health officer for MIT. On behalf of the more than 300 healthcare professionals at MIT Health, congratulations on your admission to MIT! As an MIT graduate, and the parent of an MIT graduate, I remember the unique combination of excitement and nervousness that comes with getting an acceptance and making this big decision.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help.
This guide will help you learn about getting care while studying here. MIT Health is MIT’s on-campus multispecialty group practice built exclusively for the MIT community. Every day, MIT Health provides personalized, patient-centered care that keeps MIT healthy and thriving.
MIT students can use most of the services at MIT Health, including Urgent Care, Primary Care, and Student Mental Health & Counseling with no out-of-pocket cost — all fees are included with tuition. Getting care at MIT Health is easy and convenient for students, with online scheduling, digital check-in, and more.
In closing, I’d like to wish you the best of luck in your future studies. And if you choose MIT, I look forward to seeing you in the fall!
Sincerely,
Cecilia Stuopis, MD
Chief Health Officer
The top 5 facts about healthcare and insurance at MIT
Care at MIT Health is included with tuition. It doesn’t matter if you waived MIT’s Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP) or have MIT SHIP coverage. Either way, you can get your care at MIT Health without unexpected bills. You won’t have to pay for the care you receive from most services including Urgent Care and Primary Care, and Student Mental Health & Counseling. You will have no fee for laboratory tests analyzed in our lab, or for X-rays taken at our facility. In other cases, such as specialty care or acupuncture, you may have a small copay.
You can get same-day care if you are sick or hurt. MIT Health’s Urgent Care Service does not require an appointment. You can walk in, check in at the front desk, or go online to reserve a time to come in. Urgent Care is open weekends and most holidays. Same-day Primary Care or telehealth appointments are also available during the week. And you can always call us 24 hours a day to speak with a nurse.
For other services and non-urgent concerns, appointments are available, and wait times are much shorter than other practices in the Cambridge area. That’s true if you need a checkup, a vaccine, a prescription, or any other medical concern.
We will provide an interpreter when you need one. We provide interpreter services for more than 150 spoken languages and American Sign Language (ASL). When you visit MIT Health, you can use a remote interpreter through an iPad or the telephone.
All MIT students are automatically enrolled in, and billed for, the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP). By law, all students must have comprehensive health insurance that meets Massachusetts requirements, such as MIT SHIP. You can waive MIT SHIP coverage if you can demonstrate that you have health insurance coverage that meets the state requirements.
MIT Health services and other resources
Urgent Care
MIT Health’s Urgent Care Service provides same-day care when you are sick or hurt, but it is not a life-threatening emergency. Urgent Care is the place to go for things like minor burns or small cuts, rashes, headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting, urinary tract infections, sprains or possible minor fractures, and other medical concerns that need quick attention.
You do not need an appointment to be seen in Urgent Care. You can walk in, or you can use the online form to reserve a time to come in and be seen. Urgent Care is also open weekends and most holidays.
Primary Care
Primary Care is where you’ll go if you want to schedule a physical exam, need a vaccine, or have a non-urgent health problem or concern. Our primary care providers (PCP) can order lab tests, write prescriptions, and help you manage chronic conditions like seasonal allergies or diabetes. And while we recommend you select a PCP while on campus to coordinate your care, you can use Primary Care even if you haven’t chosen a PCP. You can make an appointment with any primary care clinician who is available.
Student Mental Health & Counseling
Life at MIT can be fast paced and demanding. Student Mental Health & Counseling Services can help. Many students find that it helps to talk with someone about relationship challenges, feeling overwhelmed by school, issues at home, loneliness, anxiety, depression, or other concerns. You can choose to speak privately with a clinician in person or via telehealth, or, if appropriate, join one of our support or therapy groups. Clinicians are also on call and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for urgent consultations.
Optometry & Ophthalmology
Eye exams, glasses, and more
Our Optometry & Ophthalmology team is available for eye exams and can diagnose and treat eye injuries or other urgent eye issues. We can even order your lenses for you. Eyeglasses are not included with the MIT Student Health Insurance (MIT SHIP), but graduate students on the Graduate Student Vision Plan can use their insurance at MIT Health.
Obstetrics & Gynecology
MIT Health’s Obstetrics & Gynecology Service can help you explore your contraceptive options, including birth control pills, IUD, diaphragm, Depo-Provera injections, contraceptive implants, contraceptive patches, or contraceptive vaginal rings.
Sports Medicine & Orthopedics
Our Sports Medicine & Orthopedics Service provides care for musculoskeletal and orthopedic issues that may affect your ability to participate in sports and all other aspects of your life. It’s the place to go for stress or strain injuries, tendonitis, running injuries, and help recovering from fractures or other injuries.
Community Wellness
Community Wellness provides resources, classes, and programs to help you make healthy choices and get the most out of your time at MIT. We offer exercise and fitness classes, resources to help you manage stress and improve sleep, an annual fitness challenge, and much more.
Sexual Health
Many services at MIT Health can provide information, supplies, diagnostic tests, and counseling to address your concerns about sex and sexuality:
Well visits and other medical services, including the HPV vaccine and prescriptions for contraceptives, are available in Primary Care.
Safer sex supplies.
Free, confidential testing for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
Complete contraceptive care, including birth control pills, IUD, diaphragm, Depo-Provera injection, contraceptive implants, contraceptive patch, or contraceptive vaginal ring, is provided by our Obstetrics & Gynecology Service, or your campus primary care provider.
Over-the-counter and in-office pregnancy tests.
LGBTQ+ health services include hormonal therapy for transgender students, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and comprehensive primary care from knowledgeable and caring providers.
Counseling and consultations with providers in Student Mental Health & Counseling Services.
Dental Service
MIT Health’s Dental Service offers a range of services and emphasizes preventive care and patient education. Dental care isn’t included with the MIT Student Health Insurance (MIT SHIP) plan, but if you have outside dental insurance (through your parents, for example), you may be able to use that insurance here. Graduate students who have purchased MIT Graduate Student Dental Plan coverage can use that coverage at the Dental Service.
Protecting your privacy
Your visits to MIT Health and the information you share with our providers are confidential. That means that every part of every visit is kept private. Unless you give us permission, we won’t share any of your health information with your parents, professors, or friends. Exceptions to this policy would be life-threatening situations, or if you are under the age of 18.
Even if you are on a parent or guardian’s insurance, we won’t send information to them about your visits at MIT Health. But if you use your parent’s insurance plan for services outside MIT Health, like filling prescriptions or seeing outside specialists, your parents might get a bill. Even if an outside visit is fully covered by your parent’s insurance, and there is no bill, your parents may see any notices or claim summaries the insurance company sends to your home address.
Using health insurance in the Cambridge area
We can care for many of your medical needs on campus, and visits to most specialists at MIT Health are covered as part of your tuition. But if you need to go to the emergency room or visit an outside specialist or facility, that visit will be billed to the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP), or to your parent/guardian’s insurance.
More about the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP) and waivers
All students are required to have comprehensive health insurance according to Massachusetts law. If you attend MIT, you will automatically be enrolled and billed for the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP). If you have other health insurance coverage that meets Massachusetts requirements, you can waive the MIT SHIP plan. The MIT Student Insurance Office works with a third party to determine waiver eligibility, and the Student Insurance Office cannot answer questions about whether your waiver will be accepted or rejected as nearly every insurance plan is unique.
Still have questions? Visit our student page, or read our FAQs: