Clerkship Coordinator: 
Sonya Martyna-Seaman / Emergency Medicine Program Manager
(520) 621-5300

EMD 850B - Wilderness Medicine

Special Note: 

UA COM-T students may use Oasis to register for this course.

See Out-of-State/Visiting Student LINK: https://medicine.arizona.edu/education/degree-programs/md-program/visiti...

 

Year: 
Fourth-Year Only
Offered: 
April 14, 2025 to April 25, 2025
Prerequisites: 
Open to 4th year students
Course Director: 
Christopher G. Williams, MD
Contact Phone: 
(520) 621-5300

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Goals and Objectives
Goals/Objectives: 

Students will learn to plan, organize, triage, diagnose, and treat patients in austere or impromptu environments. Didactic lectures will be in the classroom, and practical sessions will be held in the wilderness. The didactics will be Monday through Friday the first week and Monday through Thursday the second week. Class will typically be in the morning. Throughout the course, students will be broken into smaller groups to encounter scenarios wherein they take charge, assign roles, and apply learned skills. The final practical session will occur near Molino Basin Campground, about an hour from Tucson. This practical session will involve breaking into smaller groups, coming upon scenarios where the students will have to take charge, assign roles, and apply the skills they have learned. (Volunteers in moulage will man the scenarios.) A faculty member or lecturer will observe/evaluate each group. 
 
Please note there is an optional—but highly recommended—campout the night before the final practical session.  (Details will be in the final schedule.)  The purpose of the campout is to enjoy one another’s company, get away from the city and revel in nature.  It’s not a bad way to finish up med school!  If you have camping equipment, great, but if not, we will crowd-source and make sure everyone has what they need.  Please don’t feel like you have to go buy things for camping.
 
Prerequisites required: None

We aim to impart the following concepts:

  • Develop an appreciation for medicine in wild and austere environments.
  • Develop an organized, systematic approach for assessing a patient in various wilderness settings. This includes securing the environment, diagnosing pathology, providing treatment, arranging evacuation, and communicating with those involved.
  • Understand unique diagnoses and treatments for the following wilderness-related topics: altitude, avalanche, heat-induced injuries, cold-induced injuries, lightning, submersion, dive medicine, water disinfection, dentistry, dermatology, eye injuries, ENT injuries, infectious diseases, musculoskeletal injuries, wound management, and common medical problems.
  • Plan for potential medical problems based on group size and type of activity. Then to be able to improvise and adapt when the unforeseen occurs.
  • Develop appropriate triage and multitasking abilities for various scenarios, including multi-patient casualties.
  • In a practical setting, be able to fashion various splints, dressings, tourniquets, and litters with improvised materials.
  • See beyond Wilderness Medicine as “vacation medicine” or “doctor tourism” to its true applicability in austere or impromptu environments, such as rural, humanitarian, or mass casualty settings. 

 

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Format
Format: 

This elective consists of didactic lectures in the classroom, as well as a practical session in the wilderness. The didactics will be Monday through Friday the first week and Monday through Thursday the second week.  Class will typically be in the morning. There will be a practical session in a wilderness setting somewhere within an hour of Tucson (location subject to change). This practical session will involve breaking into smaller groups, coming upon scenarios where the students will have to take charge, assign roles, and apply the skills they have learned. (Volunteers in moulage will man the scenarios.)  A faculty member or lecturer will observe/evaluate each group. 
 
Please note there is an optional—but highly recommended—campout the night before the final practical session.  (Details will be in the final schedule.)  The purpose of the campout is to enjoy one another’s company, get away from the city and revel in nature.  It’s not a bad way to finish up med school!  If you have camping equipment, great, but if not, we will crowd-source and make sure everyone has what they need.  Please don’t feel like you have to go buy things for camping.

Course Requirements
Course Requirements: 

REQUIRED Course book:

  • WLS:MP Wilderness Life Support for Medical Professionals. Della-Giustina, David. Self-published, 2023. (Available for purchase on Amazon.)

Assignments consist of:

  • Read required texts
  • Participate in discussions and hands-on, practical scenarios
  • Take a written final test
  • Participate in final practical scenarios

REQUIRED Special tools or supplies needed: Students will also need to develop their own medical kit.  * During the course, there will be a lecture on Medical Kits. Before this lecture, students must develop & bring a personal medical kit. This doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive but should be realistic. (For reference see correlating chapter in your text.) For prescription medications or equipment/ devices you’d like to have but can’t afford or acquire currently, just write a pretend prescription on a plain piece of paper or the name of the missing equipment on some paper and put it in there. We will go over people’s kits during/after the lecture. These kits will be used by you during our final practical scenarios. 

REQUIRED Student-lead discussion on medical problem in the wild: During the course everyone will have the chance to give a 7–8-minute presentation over a “preexisting condition or other non-wilderness medical affliction” of their choice.  The student will lead a discussion that addresses the presentation, differential diagnosis for the general complaint, and austere diagnosis and treatment for the specific diagnosis.  This should include a summary of evacuation criteria. 

Evaluation Methods
Evaluation Methods/Grades: 

This course is graded pass/fail. To pass, the student must meet the following requirements:

  • 80% attendance (includes lectures, breakout sessions, hands-on sessions, scenarios)
  • Develop their own medical kit*
  • Each student will lead a brief discussion of a medical condition that develops in the wild
  • Pass final written exam (>70% correct)
  • Pass group scenarios/practical 

Factual/content knowledge will be assessed by performance on the final written exam.  

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Rotation Schedule

April 14, 2025 to April 25, 2025