Federal prison FAQ

# Medical

Sick call, dental, psychology, and medications. Manage your expectations down and your documentation up.

Getting seen

## Sick call and what follows

### How do I see a doctor?

Sick call. The process is in your facility handbook.

You will mostly see a PA (the medical provider you actually see) rather than a physician, and there is a small copay (the fee for a medical visit) for visits you request yourself. It is two dollars, it is not waived because you are broke, and it should never be the reason you do not go.

### What if they ignore me?

They probably will. Keep going. Document every request and every response, because that record is what your family can escalate with from outside.

Every unanswered cop-out is evidence. [The remedy process](/resources/program-statements/1330-18-administrative-remedy-program) is one of the places filing genuinely does work, and medical care is the clearest example.

### What if it's an emergency?

It is in the handbook. Read that section before you need it.

Read it in your first week, when you have nothing else to do, rather than at two in the morning with something happening.

### Can I keep my medications?

Not the ones you bring from home.

What you can get is whatever is on the formulary, prescribed inside. [The prescription question](/going-in/faq/drugs-and-contraband#prescriptions) covers what happens when the thing you have taken for a decade is not on it.

The rest of it

## Teeth, head, and outside pressure

### What about dental?

You will be lucky if a dentist shows up once a month. Handle anything you can before you go.

This is the single most common regret I hear. Get the work done while you are still on the outside, even the work you were planning to put off.

### What about mental health, therapy, or psych meds?

Psychology services exist. At most you will see a PsyD once a month. Psych medications are hard to get.

Set your expectations there and set them now. What holds people together inside is mostly routine and contact, not treatment, and [the head stuff](/going-in/faq/the-head-stuff) is the honest version of that.

### Can my family call about my medical care?

They can, and they should. There is less they can do than either of you would like, but a documented outside inquiry creates the one thing staff respond to, which is visibility.

[The family guide](/for-families/guide) covers who to call and in what order, which matters more than what they say.

Next section — part 13 of 16

### [Family and visits](/going-in/faq/family-and-visits)

Getting people approved, what your kids should be told, and what happens when someone dies while you are in.

For your people

## Hand the rest of this site to your family

You will not be able to look things up once you're inside. They can, and this is where: [everything written for the one waiting](/for-families) — a twelve-part guide to mail, visiting, money, and your release date, plus their own FAQ and checklist. Alongside it, a [guide to every facility](/resources/facilities) with [email alerts when visiting stops](/lockdown-alerts/subscribe), the [support group directory](/resources/support-groups), calculators for your release math, and [free answers](/contact) when they have questions.

Send them the link before you report, not after they can't reach you.

**Need help with this? Just ask.**

These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. **Answers are free** , and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer.

[josh@federalprisondude.com](mailto:josh@federalprisondude.com?subject=FAQ%20question)

I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.