Introducing Medical Students to Wilderness Medicine

Abstract

In 1983, the formation of the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) and the first edition of Paul S. Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine recognized an increasing need for an organized approach to training health care professionals in the wilderness environment. Teaching patient assessment through the use of simulated accident scenarios became a cornerstone of wilderness medicine (WM) education. Residency directors of family medicine and mergency medicine programs began responding to their esidents’ suggestions of incorporating WM education nto their urban curricula. A number of medical schools even started offering intense elective courses in a wilderness setting, and one study found that 40% of the participants of a particular course claimed it was the best course in medical school. Some smaller regional oranizations strive to educate medical professionals in redicaments encountered specifically in their area while thers seek inclusion of WM education into medical cademic curriculum. While accredited WM education courses enroll many medical students and residents each year, programs not affiliated with medical schools may be prohibitively expensive for medical students and conflict with academic schedules. This paper examines how the University of Kentucky’s (UK) Wilderness Medicine Interest Group (WMIG) attempts to expose medical students to the field of WM by utilizing available resources and physician contacts.