Imagine: With eight climbers you’re three quarters on your way climbing the Dufourspitze (4,634m) in the Swiss Alps. Suddenly, a 47-year-old friend of yours slips on polished granite, flipping him upside-down and into freefall. Three meters down the back of his helmet slams into solid rock. You’re more than half a day hiking away from […]

Last-minute, Marijn Sinkeldam persuaded me to buy a ticket. On a Friday in October, the two of us leave Nijmegen to go to Wales. It is the place where the yearly UK student conference for Wilderness Medicine will take place: SWMUK18. After a flight from the warm and sunny Netherlands (25°C) to rainy Liverpool, it […]

WEM Live! Discussing each month various journal articles in the field of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. Everyday Emergency Podcast. A podcast by Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) bringing you true stories from people on the frontline of humanitarian emergencies across the world. Highly recommended! BMJ talk medicine: On the Edge. Interview with Dr Russell […]

The Wilderness First Aid Mountain (WFAM) is a unique course in addition to the Wilderness First Aid (WFA). The WFAM is aimed at the professional and enthusiast who undertakes and/or guides hikes and expeditions to areas above 4000 meters where medical assistance is not immediately available. The 2-day course consists of a day of home study (e-learning) […]

When, 6 months ago, I learned about the Mountain Medicine course, a full week high up in the Austrian Alps combining mountaineering and alpine medical skills, I registered immediately full of self-confidence. Being a young doctor who loves the outdoors, acute medicine and acting outside my comfort zone, this course was meant for me! The […]