Robert Schoene, MD
President, Wilderness Medical Society
Program Director, Internal Medicine Residency
UCSD School of Medicine
619-543-2896
rschoene@ucsd.edu
James R. Liffrig MD, MPH
WMS Board of Directors
LTC, US Army Medical Corps
Division Surgeon
785-564-3943
jliffrig1@aol.com
To: Medical School Dean
Re: Wilderness Medical Society Medical Student Elective in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine
Date: Academic year, 2005.
The Wilderness Medical Society (WMS), in consultation with the Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences (USUHS), is offering to third and fourth year osteopathic and allopathic medical
students an opportunity for premier instruction in wilderness and environmental medicine. You are
receiving this letter because a student at your institution is interested in taking and/or receiving academic
credit for this elective.
The elective, offered in February, 2005, consists of a curriculum instructed by nationally renowned,
widely published experts in wilderness medicine. The academically rigorous curriculum has been
critically evaluated and approved by both the WMS and USUHS, meeting or exceeding each
institution's standards for creditable course-work for U.S.-based medical education. While USUHS
will be offering 4 weeks of academic elective credit for their own students who successfully complete
the course, each medical school must assess whether or not it will award its own students credit. The
following information is being provided to help you make that assessment.
The 142-hour, 4-week course includes 54 hours of didactic instruction, 48 hours of pre-hospital hands-
on training, 24 hours of field training, as well as case discussions, student presentations, and a field
practicum. Students successfully completing the course will be able to:
· Act as a medical group leader in backcountry or other remote settings
· Plan for the medical support of a wide range of wilderness and/or adventure travel experiences
· Identify and plan for special hazards in a variety of extreme environments
· Manage common illnesses and injuries in an austere environment with limited resources
· Advise a wilderness travel group concerning care for and evacuation of injured or ill members
· Demonstrate basic competence in exotic travel and individual wilderness survival skills
· Understand the physician's role in search and rescue
