Public Health
The university monitors local, regional, and nationwide data and works closely with our public health experts at both the university and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to ensure our response to various infectious diseases continues to be grounded in our academic and research mission, and our commitment to science and expert guidance with the goal of protecting our community members. This page will be updated regularly with relevant guidance.
Being a part of the Vanderbilt community means not only taking care of yourself, but also supporting the health and safety of those around you. There are many ways that your actions can help protect you and others from various illnesses. There are a number of steps you can take to stay healthy, including:
Maintain a regular sleep schedule, adequate hydration and healthy nutrition, which can help boost your immune system
Move your body daily, either in a regular exercise routine or through daily activities such as walking between classes or during lunch or by taking the stairs.
Spend time outdoors when you can.
Stay up to date on vaccines.
Wash your hands regularly to help prevent the spread of infection.
Wear a mask around others if you are not feeling well, have had a recent sick contact, or are at a higher risk of infection.
Don’t neglect your mental health and find healthy ways to connect with your support system. Resources are available through the Student Care Network and the Employee Wellness Programs.
Follow the university’s infectious disease protocols and seek medical evaluation if you are not feeling well. Follow recommendations of what to do if you test positive.
Sickness can occur even when taking the utmost precautions. If you are not feeling well, please seek medical evaluation. If you are a student, visit the Student Health Center website for information on services and appointment scheduling. If you are a faculty or staff member, visit Occupational Health.
Some additional resources available to our community members include:
- Student Care Network (including Student Care Coordination, Student Health Center, University Counseling Center, and Center for Student Wellbeing). The Student Care Network includes cultural and identity, physical, emotional, spiritual, social, financial, vocational, sexual, and intellectual resources for students.
- Occupational Health Center – Occupational Health provides programs to monitor exposure to workplace hazards, treatment of work-related illness and injury, express care clinic for limited non-work related health care needs for faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows.
Please be sure to review the resources page for additional health, wellness, mental health, diversity, safety and other resources.