What is Tropical Medicine?

Abstract

Copyright: © 2013 Miller A. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. At first sight this seems a question with an obvious response and not one that requires debate in the editorial columns of a tropical medicine journal. However, the answer may be more complex than appears at first sight and perhaps it may therefore benefit from a more detailed exploration. The obvious response is that the discipline of “Tropical Medicine” refers to the practice of medicine in the tropics. But does it refer to all medical practice that takes place within the Tropics, does it refer to the practice of medicine within resource poor settings or does it refer to the diagnosis and treatment of infectious and parasitic diseases found in a tropical environment? There is no standard definition of Tropical Medicine. In the UK, doctors who wish to specialize in Tropical Medicine (TM) must first train in General Internal Medicine (GIM) and secure their exam to gain Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP). They then follow the training pathway for specialists in Infectious Disease (ID) with the addition of doing a full time course of study for the Diploma of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H). Study is carried out at either the London or Liverpool Schools of Tropical Medicine and the diploma is conferred either by the Royal College of Physicians of London or the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Additionally trainees who wish to be certified in TM must spend at least 2 years of their training at the UK centre approved for TM training (currently Liverpool, London and Birmingham) and spend a year working overseas in a resource poor setting. In many other countries, TM does not exist as a distinct specialty but is incorporated into the practice of Infectious Disease. In the US, it is not a board certified specialty but there are several credentialed courses available. These days, Tropical Medicine is often referred to as global/geographical health or international health and it encompasses a number of sub specialties such as refugee healthcare, travel medicine and expedition or remote/wilderness medicine.