Health, Safety, & Security

For the most up-to-date information on any health related issue concerning travelers studying abroad, visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/travel/easteurp.htm.

All students must carry a copy of their insurance card or an insurance brochure (if utilizing Rider’s Accident and Health Insurance policy) while studying abroad. Become familiar with your insurance coverage before leaving the country.
 

Prescription Medications
You should arrange to have any medications you might need prior to departure. It may be difficult to obtain your prescriptions overseas. You may need to see your doctor and contact your insurance company to ensure that you have enough medication for your trip.
 

Health Records
Make an appointment to see your doctor and dentist to ensure that you are in good health. You should take a copy of your health records with you during your stay abroad. You can request a copy from your doctor.

If you wear glasses, you should take a spare pair as well as a copy of your corrective prescription in case you need to obtain a replacement. If you wear contact, you will need to bring enough to last for your trip.
 

Supplemental Insurance
We recommend that students consider additional health insurance while abroad. Information about optional insurance is available in the Study Abroad Office.
 

Safety and Security: Precautions for Study Abroad
Rider University is concerned about your safety and security while you are studying abroad. Therefore, the Study Abroad Office provides you with the following list of precautionary behaviors distilled from information provided by the United States State Department, NAFSA International Educators Association, and the Rider University Safety and Security personnel.

Whether the United States, the country in which you are studying, and/or the countries to which you travel while you are abroad are at peace, or whether there is local, national, regional, or global unrest or dangerous natural occurrence, it is important that you read and follow these recommendations.

The Study Abroad Office expect you to read this list, to share the information with your parents or guardians as appropriate, to take the list with you when you travel, and, most importantly, to follow the precautionary advice it contains.

Before you leave to study abroad, you should make three copies of the information pages and visa page of the passport. Give one copy to the Study Abroad Director, another to your parents or guardian, as appropriate, and take another copy with you to keep in a separate place from the passport itself.

While you are abroad, you should:

1. Register with the US Embassy Consular Section in the country in which you are studying. You should register your passport, local address, and local telephone number. Personnel at the host university can help you in this process.
2. Register with the local police in the city or town in which you are studying. The Rider local advisor or personnel at the host university can help you in this process.
3. Stay current with developing news. Read the local daily papers, US newspapers available abroad, such as The International Herald Tribune and other online services. In addition, visit the US State Department website at http://travel.state.gov/ for both general public announcements and those particular to the country in which you are studying and any countries you are planning on visiting while abroad.
4. If you go away overnight or for several days, leave contact information with your local advisor and/or personnel at the host university and with any other Rider students who are also studying abroad.
5. Under circumstances of heightened safety and security, you should abide by the following general rules:
   1. Keep a low profile
   2. Be unpredictable
   3. By very alert
6. Seek advice from authorities in charge (the local advisor and/or personnel at the host institution) if you have any questions.
7. Report any suspicious individuals, events, vehicles, or objects that you observe to the authorities. Treat packages and mail from unfamiliar sources with suspicion.
8. Keep an emergency card with important phone numbers on you at all times. Phone numbers should include the local advisor or host university personnel, host family, local police, and Rider University Security Office. Memorize these phone numbers.
9. Maintain a low profile. Don’t stand out. Don’t walk or go out in large groups of Americans. Avoid speaking loudly in English and otherwise drawing attention to yourself when walking with groups of other Americans. Avoid dressing in ways that identify you ready as American (for example, baseball caps, baseball caps on backwards, American college sweatshirts and t-shirts, etc.). Stay away from civil disturbances and demonstrations.
10. Learn and practice key phrases in the native language, such as “I need a doctor”, “I need a policeman”, etc.
11. Vary your daily routines and travel times, if possible.
12. Avoid congregating at American businesses, bars, etc., that might be targets for terrorists or other anti-American individuals and/or where foreigners of other nationalities tend to visit.
13. Exercise care with strangers. Be cautious about whom you invite to your apartment or family’s apartment and with who you talk to. Don’t open doors to strangers. When in a hotel, don’t go down to the desk to meet someone whom you don’t know. Do not give information to strangers about who you are, where you live, your program, or its location.
14. Stay in touch with your family and your Study Abroad Advisor so they know you are safe and where they can reach you in case of an emergency or should an incident cause them to worry about your safety.