Planning an international trip from Burnaby? Before you start debating whether you really need to pack three pairs of shoes, there is one part of your trip that is worth planning early: your travel health.

Whether you’re heading to Southeast Asia, visiting family overseas, relaxing at a resort, going on safari, or travelling somewhere completely new, your destination can come with health considerations that are easy to overlook.

That is where Virtual Travel Clinic can help.

Instead of driving to a traditional travel clinic and spending time in a waiting room, Burnaby travellers can meet virtually with a Travel Medicine Professional. Your destination, itinerary, medical history and vaccination history can be reviewed to help create a personalized travel health plan. Virtual Travel Clinic provides travel health consultations across Canada, with appointments available online. 

Travel health advice from home, without the extra trip to the clinic.

Your Burnaby Travel Clinic, Without the Drive

Getting ready for an international trip already involves plenty of planning.

Flights? Check.

Hotel? Check.

Passport? Hopefully checked.

Travel health appointment? That can be taken care of from home.

Virtual Travel Clinic offers virtual travel medicine consultations, allowing Burnaby travellers to speak with a Travel Medicine Professional online. Appointments can be booked seven days a week, making it easier to fit travel health planning around work, family and everything else on your calendar. 

Here’s how it works

Virtual Travel Clinic’s comprehensive consultation includes a pre-departure assessment, destination-specific advice and prescriptions for travel vaccines and medications when medically appropriate. 

Travel Vaccines: What Do You Actually Need?

There is no universal list of travel vaccines that every traveller needs.

Your recommendations depend on where you’re going and what you’re doing once you arrive.

A traveller staying at an all-inclusive resort may have very different health considerations from someone backpacking through rural areas, visiting friends and relatives or spending several weeks camping.

During a travel medicine consultation, your Travel Medicine Professional can consider factors such as:

• Your destination
• Your complete itinerary
• Length of your trip
• Planned activities
• Accommodation
• Previous vaccinations
• Medical history
• Current medications
• Individual health considerations

This personalized approach helps identify vaccines that may be recommended or required for your specific trip. 

Travel vaccines may include:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis A and B combination vaccine
• Typhoid
• Yellow Fever
• Japanese Encephalitis
• Rabies
• Meningococcal vaccines
• Polio
• Tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis
• Measles, mumps and rubella
• Influenza
• Cholera and ETEC

Not every traveller needs every vaccine. Your recommendations should be based on your individual health history, itinerary and destination.

Travel Prescriptions for Burnaby Travellers

Travel health is about more than vaccines.

Depending on your destination and plans, you may also need to discuss medications that can help prevent or manage certain travel-related illnesses.

Virtual Travel Clinic offers several specialized travel medicine consultations.

Malaria Prevention

If you’re travelling to a destination where malaria is present, your Travel Medicine Professional can assess your destination-specific risk and discuss whether preventive medication may be appropriate.

Virtual Travel Clinic offers a specialized malaria consultation focused on malaria prevention, medications and mosquito-borne disease protection. 

Traveller’s Diarrhea

Nobody wants an upset stomach to become the most memorable part of their vacation.

Traveller’s diarrhea is one of the most common illnesses experienced abroad. Virtual Travel Clinic offers a specialized consultation focused on preventing and treating traveller’s diarrhea, including prescriptions when medically appropriate. 

Yellow Fever

Yellow Fever is a mosquito-borne disease found in certain areas of Africa and South America.

Depending on your destination and itinerary, vaccination may be recommended or required for entry. Virtual Travel Clinic offers specialized Yellow Fever consultations, including an exemption certificate where applicable. 

Altitude Sickness

Heading somewhere high?

Travellers visiting high-altitude destinations may want to discuss Acute Mountain Sickness and prevention strategies before departure. Virtual Travel Clinic offers a specialized altitude sickness consultation. 

Resort Travel

An all-inclusive holiday might sound like the easiest kind of international travel, but there are still health considerations to think about.

Virtual Travel Clinic offers a Resorts consultation designed for travellers staying at all-inclusive resorts and hotels. 

Where Are You Going From Burnaby?

Your destination plays a huge role in determining your travel health needs.

Visiting family overseas?

Travelling to visit friends and relatives can involve longer stays, local accommodation and more time outside traditional tourist areas. These factors can influence your travel health recommendations.

Heading to Asia?

Your itinerary could include major cities, rural communities, outdoor activities or multiple countries. Your travel health plan should reflect the places you will actually visit.

Going to Africa?

Depending on your destination, you may need to consider malaria prevention, Yellow Fever, mosquito protection, food and water safety and other destination-specific risks.

Taking a tropical holiday?

Even if your itinerary consists mostly of beaches and sunshine, travellers can still encounter mosquito-borne illnesses, food and water-related illnesses and vaccine-preventable diseases.

Travelling for work?

Business travellers often have tight schedules and limited time to prepare. A virtual appointment makes it easier to fit travel health planning into a busy workday.

Your destination is only part of the picture. Your itinerary matters too.

Why Choose Virtual Travel Clinic in Burnaby?

Traditional travel clinics can be helpful, but getting to one is not always convenient.

Virtual Travel Clinic was created to make specialized travel medicine easier to access for Canadians.

Skip the commute

Your appointment takes place virtually, so you can prepare for your trip from home in Burnaby.

Skip the waiting room

Meet with a Travel Medicine Professional online instead of adding another stop to your already busy schedule.

Get specialized travel advice

Virtual Travel Clinic’s Travel Medicine Professionals are Registered Nurses who have completed more than 100 hours of specialized travel medicine training. The clinic’s travel medicine physician is a dually certified Family and Emergency physician with a Certificate in Travel Health from the International Society of Travel Medicine. 

Get destination-specific recommendations

Travel medicine is not one-size-fits-all. Your itinerary and health history are considered when making recommendations. 

Access prescriptions

When medically appropriate, travel vaccines and medications can be prescribed as part of your travel health plan. Virtual Travel Clinic can also provide referrals to pharmacies in your area and, where available, prescriptions may be delivered. 

Flexible appointments

Appointments can be booked online seven days a week, helping you find a time that works with your schedule. 

When Should Burnaby Travellers Book a Travel Clinic Appointment?

If possible, Virtual Travel Clinic recommends having your travel medicine consultation 2 to 4 weeks before your trip.

Why?

Some vaccines require multiple doses, and planning ahead gives you more time to complete recommended vaccine schedules and prepare for your destination. 

That said, last-minute travellers should not assume it’s too late.

Virtual Travel Clinic can customize recommendations based on how much time you have before departure. 

So if you are flying soon and your travel health checklist is looking suspiciously empty, don’t panic. There may still be useful steps you can take before departure.

What Happens During a Virtual Travel Health Consultation?

Your appointment is about more than simply checking off a list of vaccines.

A Travel Medicine Professional reviews your travel plans alongside your individual health information.

Your appointment may cover:

Your destinations

Where are you going and which regions will you visit?

Your itinerary

Are you staying at hotels, visiting family, backpacking, camping, working abroad or taking part in outdoor activities?

Your health history

Previous vaccinations, medical conditions and medications can all influence your travel health recommendations.

Vaccination recommendations

Your Travel Medicine Professional can recommend travel vaccines based on your individual risk assessment.

Travel medications

When medically appropriate, prescriptions may be provided for certain travel-related medications.

Practical prevention

Your consultation can also cover destination-specific precautions, including food and water safety and ways to reduce your risk of travel-related illness. 

The goal isn’t to give you every vaccine available.

It’s to help you understand what is appropriate for your trip.

Your Burnaby Travel Health Checklist

Before you trade Burnaby for somewhere across the globe, add these items to your pre-travel checklist:

And don’t forget the classic travel essentials: passport, travel insurance, chargers and, of course, pants.

Backed by Canadian Medical Experience

Virtual Travel Clinic is powered by Rockdoc, a Canadian medical organization incorporated in 2008. The Virtual Travel Clinic website states that the organization has provided more than 200,000 medical consultations. This figure refers to the broader Rockdoc organization, rather than 200,000 Virtual Travel Clinic travel consultations specifically. 

The clinic’s travel medicine team includes Registered Nurses with specialized travel medicine training and a travel medicine physician certified by the International Society of Travel Medicine. 

That combination of travel medicine expertise and virtual access means Burnaby travellers can get specialized advice without having to make a separate trip to a traditional clinic.

FAQ’s