On this page you’ll learn about MIT Health’s comprehensive range of sexual health services, including free condoms, counseling, birth control, and diagnostic tests.
MIT Health provides convenient, comprehensive, supportive, individualized healthcare and health information to individuals with diverse expressions of gender and sexuality.
MIT Health offers:
Checkups and other medical services, including the HPV vaccine and prescriptions for contraception, in Primary Care and Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Easy, confidential testing for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV
Contraception counseling, prescriptions, and supplies
Free safer sex supplies, available on the third floor of E23 outside the Community Wellness offices
Hormonal therapy options for transgender patients
LGBTQ+ Health services
Counseling and consultations with providers in Student Mental Health & Counseling Services (students only). Call 617-253-2916.
- Peer support from MedLinks volunteers, who can direct you to free condoms in your residence, and Pleasure Educators, who can help answer questions about specific types of condoms and about navigating sex and sexuality at MIT.
More about STI testing
Confidential testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is available for all MIT students with no out-of-pocket cost.
STI testing is available in our Student Health Clinic. If you don’t have STI symptoms, you can schedule an appointment online. If you have symptoms of an STI, call 617-253-448, option 1 to make an appointment. Results are available in approximately four days.
Available Tests
We can test for infections such as:
Chlamydia
Gonorrhea
Genital Herpes
Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Syphilis
HIV/AIDS
Hepatitis B and C
Trichomoniasis
Who will find out about my test?
STI tests are completely confidential. If you are covered by the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (MIT SHIP), you also have confidential prescription coverage.
However, if you have waived MIT SHIP coverage, your prescription coverage is through your other comprehensive insurance plan. So, if we prescribe any medications, you will need to pay for those medications out of pocket or use the prescription coverage from your other insurance plan. If you are covered through your parents’ plan, they will probably be notified that you filled a prescription, and this notification may also include the name of the medication.
How often should I be tested?
There is no single answer to this question, because everyone is unique. Based on your sexual history, your PCP can advise you about how often you should be tested and for which infections. Your clinician can also provide information about safer sex methods. You do not need to be tested for STIs until you are sexually active. No baseline measures are necessary.
I don’t want to be tested on campus. Is there another place I can go?
MIT Health can perform any STI tests you need, but if you would prefer not to be tested here, Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts’ Greater Boston Health Center is a good off-campus option. You can request an appointment on their website or by calling 617-295-7235. The Greater Boston Health Center is easily accessible on the MBTA’s Green Line. Take the B line to the Babcock Street stop.