What if you have an urgent medical problem that needs immediate attention? It could be a urinary tract infection (UTI), vomiting or dehydration, severe sore throat or cough, or a strained ankle or wrist—not an emergency, but not something that can wait very long.
If you are an MIT student, employee, or affiliate, you can call MIT Medical’s 24-hour Help Line at 617-253-4481 to get advice about an urgent medical problem. You can use our interpreter service when you call. If a clinician is not readily available, we will take your number and call you back within an hour.
When you speak with the clinician by phone, he or she will help you in one of the following ways:
- Answer your questions, give you advice, and/or explain what you should do immediately at home.
- Ask you to come in right away.
- Direct you to the nearest emergency room or one of our affiliated hospitals.
If you can’t take care of the problem at home, you will need to see a doctor or nurse practitioner. If you have an MIT health plan, a clinician at MIT Medical can see you. You have two options at MIT Medical:
- Urgent Care: You can come into the walk-in Urgent Care Service any time from 8 a.m.–8 p.m. You don’t need an appointment in Urgent Care, but you will have to wait for your turn. If many people come into Urgent Care at the same time, or if someone comes in with a serious medical problem or a bad injury, your wait might be longer.
- Same-day appointment: Call your primary care provider (PCP) or—if you don’t have a PCP—call MIT Medical at 617-253-4481 to speak with a clinician and explain your problem. Very often, we can give you an appointment the same day, although the appointment may not be with your PCP. Instead, it will be with another provider who has time in his or her schedule that day.
Don’t have an MIT health plan? See “Getting care if you don’t have MIT insurance.”
