Mental Health Services

Primary care at the Student Health Center includes basic assessment and treatment of mental health conditions requiring medications to complement the services provided by Counseling and Psychological Services.

If you are currently under the care of a psychiatrist at home, we recommend continuing care with your psychiatrist or establishing ongoing care with a psychiatrist in the Rochester community. 

Long-term counseling is outside of the scope of our practice. The Student Health Center has a psychiatrist on staff available for consultation regarding more complex cases. Case Management can facilitate students connecting with psychiatric providers in the area.

ADD/ADHD

RIT is unable to complete diagnostic evaluations for ADD/ADHD. However, we can refer students to community specialists for comprehensive evaluation and diagnosis if desired.

Students Previously Diagnosed with ADD/ADHD:
If you have previously been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD and are stable on medication prescribed by your provider, you should continue obtaining the prescription(s) from your provider. New York State has no exclusions on prescriptions for controlled substances from outside of the state, therefore your provider can send your prescription to a local pharmacy for pick up or delivery.

If you are interested in having your prescription(s) delivered to the Student Health Center from a local Wegmans pharmacy, click here to learn more and register.
 

If you're experiencing issues with continued medication from your provider:
If you have tried to obtain the prescription(s) from your provider and have experienced issues, you can seek approval to receive ADD/ADHD care at the Student Health Center. To do this, you must obtain records from your home provider and upload them to the RIT Wellness Portal for review. Records must include ALL of the following:

  • A copy of the initial diagnostic evaluation - must be completed  by a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, or a doctorate level psychologist. Evaluation by primary care doctor including standardized evaluations and long term care history are acceptable in some cases. Online or telehealth evaluations are not sufficient.

  • Treatment history - including medication history (at least 6 months)

  • Treatment plan - what your current provider anticipates going forward, including dosage of current medication

After submission, the Student Health Center clinic staff will review your records (which can take several weeks). The length of time needed for this varies depending on:

  • Volume and legibility of records submitted and whether they are sufficient or not; often medical providers must supplement what they have sent

  • Availability of the staff at the Student Health Center to review the records (varies with time of year)

  • The total number of students submitting records for such services at that time

All communication will be by secure message in the RIT Wellness Portal. If there is insufficient information for us to be clear about diagnosis and treatment plans, we will provide information regarding other local providers including information for diagnostic testing (if desired). If we have received sufficient information, we will send you a secure message in the RIT Wellness Portal to schedule an appointment with the Student Health Center to review care expectations and the risks/benefits of continued treatment. Please note: If a controlled medication is suitable, you must sign a Controlled Medication Agreement, provide a urine sample, and the Student Health Center must receive acceptable results from your urine sample before a medication can be prescribed.

Contact

studenthealth@rit.edu
585-475-2255

Emergency

If there is a medical emergency, call Public Safety 585-475-3333 or text 585-205-8333.