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.