We asked our remarkable WEM faculty, many of who have a depth of experience, living and working in the most remote corners of the world, achieving notable success in the face of extreme challenge and adversity the most frequently asked questions they get asked regarding our Alpine Medicine course.
What will I learn?
The main focus of the medical content will be around casualty care in winter mountain and alpine settings. You’ll learn essentials skills for assessing and treating patients, mechanisms of injury, scene safety and evacuation. Much of your learning will happen through hands on scenarios which will evolve in complexity as the course progresses, this will be backed up with lecture content and essential mountain skills, including a full day of avalanche training with world-class IFMGA guides.
Do I need to be a skier to attend?
No, the majority of past participants have not been experienced backcountry skiers. For those that have the skills, we are often able to supply skis and boots to allow you the chance to have some fun on the mountain.
Will ‘normal’ skiing clothing be ok?
Your typical piste skiing kit won’t be appropriate for this course due to the conditions and activity you’ll be doing out on the mountains. When ascending mountains, you’ll work up quite a sweat and so will need adaptable layers, high quality base layers, thin fleeces and a high quality shell layer is best. Once you stop moving, you’ll want a warm down or synthetic jacket to keep you nice and toasty. It’s important to ensure you are adequately equipped to deal with the cold conditions.
I’ve not done one of your courses before, can I still join?
This all comes down to your own experience – if you’re a competent hillwalker/climber with good knowledge of kit, navigation and are capable of looking after yourself in a remote setting, then yes.
Ok, so I don’t have those skills, what should I do?
Our four or five-day Expedition & Wilderness Medicine courses are a great introduction as a first-timer to a remote medicine course. You’ll also want to clock up some time improving your outdoor skills, with navigation as your number one priority. Safely being able to navigate your way through an adventure, or out of trouble, will allow you to push into more demanding terrain and face more challenging conditions.
I’m new to medicine is this for me?
If you love the outdoors, especially mountainous environments then yes. Our practical workshops and simulated exercises throughout the course will bring a new level of challenge due to the environment and limited resources, so anything you can do to boost your confidence in high pressure and emergency settings the better.
Do we get to summit any mountains?
We are hoping to build in that kind of objective, but this depends on many factors. While we aim to pack as much adventure as we can into our courses, we recognise that the biggest value is in the training itself. If you’d like to extend your stay for your own adventures we work with the fantastic people at www.triglavguides.com for all our Slovenia based adventures who would be happy to help you.
If you want to open up your medical career and mix adventure into your career, then this is the course for you!
To find out more information about our Alpine Medicine course or to book your place on what we promise will be an incredibly inspiring 6 days in Slovenia, please click here.
_______________________________________
Other blogs that may be of interest, include: