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The Pretravel Consultation

Jedda Rupert, MD
Timothy Groh, MD
Rebecca Allen, DO

American Family Physician. 2025;111(3):245-253.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for CME.

Related Letter to the Editor: Strengthening Travel Vaccination Guidance

Patients who will be traveling internationally should be advised to schedule dedicated pretravel assessments with their primary care physicians. The pretravel consultation is a vital opportunity for physicians to review preventive and risk-reduction strategies with travelers. Critical components of the patient interview include travel itinerary, anticipated high-risk activity, and medical history. This information affects subsequent recommendations for immunizations, malaria chemoprophylaxis, personal protective measures, and risk-reduction measures. Physicians should review whether routine and seasonal immunizations, including those for COVID-19 and influenza, are up to date and determine whether location-specific immunizations are warranted. Malaria prophylaxis and counseling on personal protective measures, including minimizing skin exposure and using insect repellant, permethrin-treated clothing, bed nets, and screens, are recommended for travelers visiting endemic areas. A single dose of antibiotics may be considered for self-treatment of traveler’s diarrhea without features of dysentery. Travelers with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, should carry documentation of medical issues and enough medications and supplies to last for the duration of travel. Activity-specific concerns include sunburn, motor vehicle crashes, water safety, altitude sickness, and risks associated with sexual behaviors.

JEDDA RUPERT, MD, FAAFP, is associate program director of the National Capital Consortium Family Medicine Residency at Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland.

TIMOTHY GROH, MD, is a resident in the National Capital Consortium Family Medicine Residency at Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center.

REBECCA ALLEN, DO, FAAFP, is associate program director of the National Capital Consortium Family Medicine Residency at Alexander T. Augusta Military Medical Center and an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

Address correspondence to Jedda Rupert, MD, FAAFP, at jedda.p.rupert.mil@health.mil.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

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