Student Health and Counseling offers specialized care for sexual health, including:
- Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) and HIV Testing: STI screening is recommended for ALL sexually active individuals, even without symptoms. The majority of STIs go unnoticed and don’t show signs or symptoms until months or even years later, which is why regular screening is important. As a reminder, the Penn Student Insurance Plan (PSIP) covers sexual health counseling and/or screening, so there is no direct cost for these services. For students NOT on PSIP, we offer low-cost STI screening ranging from $10-$30 per test.
- Sexual Health Education: Our Public Health and Wellbeing team provides an online sexual health education program. This 6-week self-help program can help you improve your sexual health and sexual relationships with information, tips, and resources emailed directly to you every week. All Penn students are invited to participate.
- Sexual Assault Treatment and Support: There are many resources available at Penn for students who experience sexual violence, relationship violence, or stalking. For more information about resources, policies, and reporting options, visit Penn Violence Prevention.
- Student Health and Counseling can provide medical evaluations, mental health support, and treatment to victims/survivors of sexual and relationship violence, regardless of whether they make a report or seek additional resources. Both male and female providers can perform examinations, discuss testing and treatment of sexually transmissible infections, provide emergency contraception if necessary, and arrange for referrals and follow up. All services are confidential. Office visits are covered in full by the Clinical Fee and the Penn Student Insurance Plan (PSIP). Charges for lab tests related to a sexual assault are waived.
- Forensic Rape Examinations: Student Health and Counseling does not perform forensic rape examinations, however, students are referred to the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center (PSARC), which is designated to provide forensic rape examinations to victims of sexual assault. Members of the Penn community can receive transportation and accompaniment to PSARC by Special Services in the Division of Public Safety. It is recommended that students who wish to pursue legal action, or may want to pursue legal action in the future, receive this examination, which includes a collection of evidence. During this examination, victims can receive treatment for injuries and sexually transmitted infections as well as emergency contraception. In order to preserve evidence, victims are advised not to smoke, eat, drink, bathe, douche, brush their teeth, or change their clothes prior to receiving the exam. However, doing any of the above does not mean an exam cannot be performed. While it is highly recommended that victims receive an exam within 72 hours of an assault, there is no official time limit after which an exam cannot be performed.
*Please note that forensic rape examinations cannot be performed at any local hospital unless the victim is being treated there for injuries that are so severe they are considered medically unstable.
For a full list of confidential resources and reporting options, visit Penn Violence Prevention.
Schedule an appointment online or call 215-746-3535.