Ocean Medicine Course
Take your training onto the water and expand your clinical practice into marine environments.
This four-day Ocean Medicine course in Brixham equips you with the core skills needed to operate safely and effectively in maritime, coastal, and water-based environments.
Set in a historic working harbour on the South Devon coast, the course blends focused teaching, practical workshops, and immersive on-water scenarios to develop your clinical decision-making, leadership, and communication skills under pressure.
You’ll move beyond classroom learning and into realistic ocean-going situations, gaining the confidence to manage casualties, assess risk, and support teams operating on vessels, small craft, and in cold-water environments.
Ocean Medicine Course
Modules
Day One
You’ll begin with an introduction to ocean medicine, covering core principles, human factors, situational awareness, and risk management at sea. Teaching focuses on adapting clinical decision-making to marine environments, including vessel safety, equipment considerations, and working in confined spaces.
Day Two
The focus shifts to practical skills, including immersion and drowning physiology, cold water shock, hypothermia, casualty handling on vessels, and managing trauma in restricted environments. Sessions are delivered through hands-on workshops and controlled on-water scenarios.
Day Three
You’ll explore medical problems commonly encountered in ocean settings, including musculoskeletal injuries, marine envenomation, dive medicine, nutrition at sea, communications, and helicopter protocols. Learning is reinforced through case discussions and practical exercises.
Day Four
The course culminates in scenario-based simulations that integrate clinical care, teamwork, and maritime operations. You’ll apply learning in real time, managing medical incidents while considering vessel movement, weather, and evacuation constraints.
Your Teaching Faculty
Charlie Fleury
Ella du Breuil
Brixham, UK
What's Included?
Field-Based Training and Practical Workshops
Teaching is delivered through hands-on workshops, small-group activities, and realistic on-water scenarios designed to reflect the challenges of medical care at sea.
Expert Faculty and Instruction
You’ll be taught by experienced medical professionals with backgrounds in ocean expeditions, emergency medicine, and pre-hospital care, supported by instructors with specialist maritime expertise.
Accommodation, Meals and Course Support
Your course fee includes accommodation and meals from the start of the course through to after lunch on the final day, allowing you to focus fully on learning and participation.
Accommodation is provided at Grenville House, located directly on Brixham Harbour. Rooms are shared dormitory-style accommodation.
CPD and Course Certification
This course has been awarded 28.5 CPD hours by RCSEd, and 22.5 CPD hours by The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM)
On completion, you’ll receive a certificate of attendance recognising your training in ocean and maritime medicine.
What past attendees say
“This course is by far one of the best courses I have attended, if not the best, with fantastic WEM Faculty who made it such an amazing experience. I am greatly inspired by the amazing things that can be done as clinicians in extreme, austere environments, and I have again remembered why I do what I do as an Emergency Medicine doctor and why I want to pursue a career like this. I made great friends during this course and am already planning my next WEM course. I genuinely do not understand how the time went so quickly this week. I want to thank you all once again and hope to see you in the next WEM course. ”
“A huge thank you to the Faculty and staff at Grenville house. I had the best time, learned alot and am keen to do another course. ”
“Absolutely amazing course, fabulous faculty, great resources. Thanks to all ”
“Keep up the great work..Amazing to see WEM pushing boundaries ”
Case Studies
This course is designed for healthcare professionals and students who want to apply their clinical skills in ocean, maritime, and water-based environments.
It’s particularly suited to those interested in sailing expeditions, marine events, dive medicine, ocean rowing, or supporting extreme athletes and teams operating at sea.
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