Endurance Medicine Course

Chamonix, France

Course Date

07 June 2027 08:30 - 11 June 2027 13:00

Book Now

Be the clinician needed at the next checkpoint

This five-day Endurance Medicine course in Chamonix prepares you to work as a competent member of a medical team supporting big endurance events — ultra-marathons, multi-day stage races, swim crossings, alpine challenges, and 24-hour urban events.

Set in the shadow of Mont Blanc, the course blends focused teaching, scenario-based workshops, and immersive simulations to build the clinical decision-making, communication, and operational awareness that event medicine demands.

This course is designed for clinicians who want to deliver world-class medical and athlete support at endurance events. You will build the confidence to work effectively within experienced medical teams, understand your role and responsibilities, navigate unfamiliar systems and equipment, and make clear, assured clinical decisions under pressure – all with the goal of improving patient outcomes in some of the harshest and most demanding endurance race environments.

Your Teaching Faculty

Faculty To Be Confirmed

Modules

Note: Accommodation for the evening before (Sunday) is included in your course booking.

Day One — The event environment & pre-event planning

You’ll start with the landscape of endurance events and your role within a wider medical team. The day focuses on what to clarify before you say yes: pre-event planning, risk assessment, the legal and indemnity questions that catch clinicians out, and the psychology of supporting athletes including the DNF conversation.

Day Two — Nutrition, hydration & the environment

Fuelling and hydration principles, women’s health and bone health, common disorders in sport (rapid pattern recognition for the conditions you’ll actually see), environmental medicine across heat, cold and altitude, a live environmental emergency simulation, and a medical kit and formulary workshop.

Day Three — Musculoskeletal & skin

A full day of hands-on assessment: lower limb, upper limb and spine theory and practical, plus the unglamorous but essential field skills of blister, chafing, trench foot and wound management. By the end of Day Three you will have taped, dressed and assessed in pairs across rotating stations.

Day Four — Cardiac, respiratory, special populations & women’s health

ECG interpretation and the cardiac picture in endurance athletes, the collapse-at-the-finish-line simulation, women’s health in the field including pregnancy and pelvic floor considerations, pharmacology pitfalls (NSAIDs, altitude drugs, anti-doping), and the scenario you’ll remember longest: the confused, agitated contestant who doesn’t speak English in the dark, wet and wind.

Day Five — Simulation, integration & closing

A final multi-casualty endurance event simulation weaving every thread of the week together, followed by a structured debrief revisiting the Day One planning exercise. Course closes at 13:00 for travel.

What's Included?

Scenario-Based Training & Practical Workshops

Teaching is delivered through workshops, hands-on practical stations, and realistic simulations designed around the events you’ll actually work. Less than half of contact time is didactic.

Expert Faculty

You’ll learn from expert clinicians, all with operational event and endurance medicine experience. You learn from people who have written the med plan, signed the contracts, made the medevac call, and worked the 0300 checkpoint in the rain.

Accommodation, Meals & Course Support

Your course fee includes shared dormitory accommodation at the Auberge de Jeunesse de Chamonix (including the Sunday evening before the course) and all meals through to lunch on the final day. Enjoy five days in the heart of the Alps, with afternoons free to explore. The setting is part of the learning experience.

CPD & Certification

On completion, you’ll receive a certificate of attendance recognising your training in endurance medicine. CPD application currently pending.

Book Now

GBP £1,295.00

course dates

Clear

Deposit Option GBP £500.00 per item

Pay Deposit Full Amount

Frequently Asked Questions

Why this course exists

Endurance races are operationally and clinically complex environments. Clinicians arriving at these events are stepping into systems shaped by governance, delegated responsibility, race rules, medical plans and escalation pathways that they did not design, but must still understand and work within safely.

At the same time, they are managing athletes at the edge of physiological tolerance: hypothermic, hyperthermic, confused, dehydrated, hyponatraemic, injured, exhausted, or determined to continue despite clear risk. Decisions are rarely made in ideal conditions.

They are made in remote terrain, at night, in bad weather, with limited kit, finite personnel, difficult communications, delayed evacuation options, and the constant tension between athlete ambition, event momentum and clinical judgement. This course prepares you to enter that reality as a safe, effective member of the medical team.

What is the course content?

This Endurance Medicine course explores the medical, environmental, operational, and human factors challenges of supporting athletes in endurance events and extreme sporting environments.

Content includes:

The endurance event landscape and medical team structures
Roles and responsibilities within event medical teams
Risk assessment and event planning
Training, sleep, recovery, and fatigue management
Athlete psychology and the DNF conversation
Legal considerations, indemnity, and operational governance
Nutrition and hydration strategies
Women’s health in endurance sport
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)
Environmental medicine: heat, cold, altitude, and water exposure
Exercise-associated hyponatraemia
Exercise-associated collapse
Rhabdomyolysis
Gastrointestinal dysfunction in endurance athletes
Lower limb assessment and injury management
Upper limb and spinal assessment
Taping techniques for common endurance injuries
Blister prevention and management
Wound care in field environments
Cardiac health in endurance athletes
ECG interpretation and cardiac screening
Sudden cardiac death in sport
Exercise-induced bronchospasm
Pregnancy and endurance sport
Supporting female athletes in the field
Medical kit and formulary planning
Pharmacology considerations in endurance medicine
Anti-doping awareness
Special populations in endurance events
Communication and decision-making under uncertainty
Dynamic risk management in the field
Clinical assessment of unknown or deteriorating athletes
Environmental emergency management
Medical evacuation planning
Multi-casualty endurance event response
Professional development pathways in endurance medicine

Teaching is delivered through a mix of lectures, practical workshops, case discussions, simulations, and scenario-based learning.

What are the intended learning outcomes?

By the end of the week, you will be able to:

Define your boundaries of care before, during and after an event — and know what to ask before you sign anything

Navigate the legal, indemnity and operational realities of working as an event clinician, including treating international participants

Recognise and manage the common disorders that present at endurance events — RED-S, exercise-associated hyponatraemia, rhabdomyolysis, exercise-associated collapse, EIB, stress fractures

Handle the environmental medicine that defines mountain, cold and altitude events — hypothermia, NFCI/FCI, AMS/HACE/HAPE, exertional heat illness

Assess and manage a contestant in realistic conditions — confused, agitated, no shared language, dark and wet — using a structured framework and clear escalation

Run a musculoskeletal and skin assessment in the field, including taping and blister/wound management

Apply the specific considerations of women’s health, cardiac screening, special populations, and pharmacology in endurance athletes

Communicate, document and hand over in a way that protects the contestant and protects you

Is this course right for me?

If you’re a healthcare professional, first responder or event medical team member who has worked (or wants to work) at endurance events — and you’ve ever stood at a checkpoint wondering whether what you’re about to do is within your scope, your indemnity, or your skill — this course is built for you.

Do I need previous event medicine experience?

No. The course is designed for mixed experience levels. If you’re newer to event medicine, it gives you a clear framework for working safely and confidently.

If you’re already experienced, the value comes from sharpening higher-level judgement: refining your approach to legal and indemnity risk, pressure-testing your decision-making in complex simulations, comparing practice with an expert faculty, and strengthening the operational thinking that sits behind safe, effective race medicine.

What level of fitness is required?

You don’t need to be an ultra-runner. You should be comfortable on your feet for full teaching days and able to participate in outdoor scenarios in variable Alpine June weather. Afternoons are yours — many participants use them for trail running, climbing or cycling.

How do I get to Chamonix?

The nearest train station is Les Pèlerins, a 10-minute walk from the venue. Chamonix is well-connected by train from Geneva, with onward connections from major European hubs. Geneva airport is approximately 1 hour by road. From Chamonix Sud, take Bus #2 towards “Les Bossons” and alight at “Auberge de Jeunesse.” Free parking is available onsite. We recommend arriving the day before the course starts.

What time can I arrive?

Reception is open 7:30 AM–11 AM and 4–8 PM. Late arrivals are possible with prior notice — let us know your ETA and we’ll make sure you’re looked after.

Where will I be staying?

Accommodation is included in your course fee at the Auberge de Jeunesse de Chamonix (the Chamonix youth hostel). Rooms are shared dormitory-style — the same model used by most expedition and wilderness medicine courses. It’s clean, comfortable, well-located, and reflects the practical, collegiate nature of the course. If you’ve stayed in alpine huts, mountain refuges or expedition base camps, you’ll feel right at home.

The hostel has:

A lounge with Wi-Fi and games, open 7 AM until bar closing

A bar open 5 PM–11 PM

Coin laundry and luggage storage

Free onsite parking

A few practical things worth knowing: most rooms have one power outlet, and there are no in-room lockers — luggage storage is provided separately, and a small padlock is a sensible thing to pack.

What about food and dietary requirements?

All meals are included throughout the course.

Breakfast is served at the venue

Packed lunches (salad, bread, cheese, fruit, cake) are picked up at breakfast

Dinner is a fixed three-course menu (starter, main, dessert) served at 7:45 PM

There is no shared kitchen or self-catering facility onsite.

Vegetarian meals and allergy-friendly options can be accommodated with at least 10 days’ notice before the course start date. Unfortunately we cannot provide vegan meals or allergy-free meals at short notice or on arrival — please plan ahead and contact us early if you have specific requirements.

Do I need travel insurance to attend?

Yes. Comprehensive travel and medical insurance is mandatory for all non-French attendees, including cover for any outdoor activities you may undertake in your free time.

Will I get a certificate?

Yes — a certificate of attendance is issued on completion.

What support is available before the course starts?

Ahead of the course, you’ll receive access to a WhatsApp group where you can ask questions, share travel plans, and connect with fellow participants and faculty. Joining instructions and optional pre-course resources are also provided.

I have another question

If you wish to learn more or have any additional questions, we invite you to book a 20-minute discovery call with our team.

→ Click here to book a discovery call.

The call will be with the team who organise our courses and work closely with our medical teaching faculty. They’re best placed to explain what our attendees really get out of attending a course with us.

You can choose between a video or voice call — whatever suits you best.

Prefer email? Then feel free to contact us.