FREE WEM Academy Live Session #9: Expedition Medicine Careers Panel
Host: Mark Hannaford
Joined by: Emma Figures, Luca Alfatti and Taryn Anderson
When: Wed 10th June 2020 from 18:00 (GMT)
Length: 1 hours 30 mins
Ideal for: Health professionals of all grades, stages and training backgrounds
Find out how you can break into the incredibly rewarding world of expedition medicine by hearing from our extreme panel of specialists who have done it all!
- What experience and qualifications do I need?
- What kind of personal qualities are important for expedition work?
- What resources are available for me to up skill?
- How do I fit expeditions around my other clinical and family roles?
- Where do I stand with medical indemnity?
- How will this pandemic change the expedition and travel landscape?
Here’s why these maverick medic panellists are worth listening to…
Panellist Bio’s (Medic’s like you – so why not you too?)
Emma Figures – Trainee GP & Expedition Medic
In her life before medicine, Emma lived in a caravan in Wales, worked as a healthcare assistant, travelled solo around the world having never been on a plane, hiked the Himalayas, studied Geography at Cambridge and volunteered in Nepal, China, India, Sri Lanka and Zambia (Teaching, Tsunami relief and TB hospices). After graduating, she taught in Geneva and undertook an internship at the UN and WHO, where she attended the Human Rights Council and World Health Assembly.
She then returned to Cambridge to study Medicine and ventured to Borneo for her elective (in a busy city ED and rural jungle clinic). After Foundation training in Cornwall and a Mountain Medicine course in Morocco, Emma returned to Kathmandu with Nepal Critical Care Development Foundation and has subsequently pursued a colourful career in expedition medicine and education.
Her expedition medic work has taken her on charity cycles in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka and hiking challenges in Iceland, the Grand Canyon and Kilimanjaro. She also had the chance to work in Fiji with the famous Dr Joe for the US reality TV show Survivor. Closer to home, she has worked as an Event Medic for a Children in Need Ramble and in the Brecon Beacons with Across The Divide.
Emma completed a PGCE during her clinical teaching fellowship at Birmingham University, before flying off to warmer weather (and Category 5 hurricanes) in the Caribbean, where she was as an Assistant Professor at Saba University. She is now back in the UK for GP training, but continues to dream of faraway places and enthusiastically teaches on expedition medicine courses dressed as a magical unicorn – true story!
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Luca Alfatti – Paramedic & Expedition Medic
Luca is a HCPC registered Paramedic, who currently holds a Diploma in Paramedic Practice and is hoping to complete his BSc by the end of 2017. When in the UK, which admittedly it is not often, Luca works as a Paramedic in the North West and South West of England.
In addition to this he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Wilderness Expedition Medicine Faculty Member, PHTLS instructor, Mountain Leader and Water Rescue Technician. Luca is also a HEFAT instructor, delivering hostile environment training to journalists both in the UK, before deployment and in country, during deployment.
Luca also works as a volunteer and fundraiser with Team Rubicon, which is a disaster response humanitarian organisation working both in the UK and overseas.
Luca had always dreamed of travelling EVERYWHERE and in 2005 he eventually drove his own Ford Probe from New York City to Panama City and he never looked back! Luca became an overland driver and mechanic and during this time worked and travelled in over 100 countries across 5 continents. In 2015 Luca was then looking for a new venture and qualified as a Paramedic, with a view to combining this with his love of travel. In the last 2 years Luca has gone on to lead expeditions in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Chad just to mention a few.
Thanks to all those years working on the road his dedication was recognised, with him winning the Wanderlust Expedition Leader of the Year Award in 2012 and awarded a bursary. Luca then used this to set up a sustainable, income generating, community project in Antigua, Guatemala to support women and their children who have been victims of domestic abuse. This project continues to run to this day.
Luca’s work has featured in magazines like ‘Trek and Mountains’ and ‘Adventure Travel’. His world first crossing of the Dash e Lut Desert, in Iran, in 2015 was featured in the National Geographic Traveller. Luca is also currently writing a publication for ‘Paramedic Insight’ narrating his experience as an expedition medic, for an unsupported winter snowshoe crossing of Spitzbergen.
Luca does not only lead all his trips but, has often designed the trips himself and acts as either expedition leader/medic or both.
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Taryn Anderson – Nurse & Expedition Medic
Taryn is a qualified nurse who trained in Australia and spent the first part of her career working as Nursing Officer in the Australian Army. During her time in the military she completed her Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine and began providing healthcare to in complex remote environments including Kenya, Papua New Guinea and remote Australia.
Moving to the UK in 2015, Taryn began to seek out further clinical challenges and responded to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa as both a Clinician and the Senior Nurse overseeing the Ebola Treatment Centre, which involved developing protocols for stringent infection prevention and control procedures and a comprehensive training program for staff.
During the battle for Mosul, Taryn worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Clinical Coordinator over the course of 12 months helping to establish and run three field hospitals providing damage control resuscitation for trauma patients and two maternity hospitals to provide obstetric care to the people of Mosul.
Taryn has also responded as part of disaster relief efforts providing medical cover to teams deploying to Haiti, Nepal and Mozambique but most recently has been working for WEM providing medical support to a TV production in the South Pacific. She continues to regularly return to work in Australia as a Remote Area Nurse providing medical support to some of the remotest areas of the country and is currently enjoying exploring the South of England after a recent move.
In our latest podcast, Eoin (WEM Trauma Lead) and Will (WEM Education Lead and Conference Content Director) consider the potential impact of the pandemic on healthcare services, how this may force us to adapt and innovate, and contemplate the differing impacts this is having on their roles as a Paramedic and a GP.
Since he graduated from medical school in the late 1980s, Nick has pursued his career in musculoskeletal medicine through the British Military. He underwent much of his specialist training in Oxford and also as a research Fellow in Sports Medicine in Vancouver. In the past 10 years, his passion for high latitude sailing has brought an additional enthusiasm for expedition medicine
Surgeon Lieutenant Charlie Rowland is a General Duties Medical Officer serving in the Royal Navy. Following completion of his Basic Officer Training in December 2016 he trained in hyperbaric and diving medicine at the Institute of Naval Medicine and undertook elements of the Royal Navy’s Mine Countermeasures Diving course. 
Dave has travelled the globe during his military service of 25 years as a Royal Marine Commando and in his current profession of 14 years, as a television and film producer and safety consultant. He predominantly works with presenters going to extreme, dynamic and hostile locations, including working on approximately 90% of shows presented by Bear Grylls. 
Laura Penhaul is passionate about helping teams or individuals to perform at their best and she draws on her extensive experience, both personally and professionally, in high performance sport and expedition. 
From wheelchair bound to world class athlete, Beth French stretches the horizons of her own possibilities, tackling seemingly impossible feats of endurance and adventure. Beth suffered with ME from the age of 10, and by 17 she was in a wheelchair. Overcoming debilitation, she forged a path to ultimate health her own way.
Nikki has a background in Sports Science, Human Performance and Science Publishing previously working with elite extreme athletes such as Vendee Globe sailors and Formula 1 drivers in the areas of sleep, stress, nutrition and fitness.
Grant Walkey has been involved in search and rescue for over 20 years, specialising in water rescue combining skills as a former firefighter and as an RNLI lifeboat crew, beach lifeguard, and Flood rescue team member and adding advanced skills clinically as a paramedic.
Being a firefighter in Australia a lot of people have asked me for my opinion on the current bushfire crisis – so let’s talk about the fires.
Burjor is both a past consultant dentist for the British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit and a resident expedition dentist for 
Ben has been a Paramedic since 2014 and is a Critical Care Paramedic on the Thames Valley Air Ambulance.
Abbi is an Anaesthetics clinical fellow currently working at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and is also currently completing the RCSEd Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM).
Wayne is a Specialist Retrieval Practitioner with the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service operating out of Glasgow, providing enhanced pre-hospital trauma care. The service also conducts specialist transfers of critically ill or injured patients from remote and rural locations across Scotland.
Jodie is an ED trainee in Wessex, battling to balance getting outdoors with an ED rota.
Neil is a consultant in anaesthesia, major trauma and pre-hospital emergency medicine.
Mel is a GP with a keen passion for expedition medicine.
Currently London based, Jim completed his emergency medicine training in June 2018 and has since been working as a HEMS doctor for Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. In 2021 he will be undertaking a secondment with London’s Air Ambulance.
Hannah is an Emergency Medicine Registrar in the East of England, but mostly wishes she was in the mountains. She is a qualified Mountain Leader, and aspirant International Mountain Leader, having been involved in expeditions with school groups for many years.
Luca is a HCPC registered Senior Paramedic Team Leader, who holds a BSc (Hons) in Paramedic Practice and is currently undertaking a masters in Advanced Practice.
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