Extreme Careers: Navigating Opportunity, Risk & Reality in the World of Extreme Medicine

Careers, Expedition & Wilderness Medicine, Humanitarian & Disaster Medicine
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Extreme medicine sits at the intersection of healthcare, risk, innovation and humanity. Whether practiced in a conflict zone, on a remote mountainside, during a maritime rescue or within an overstretched humanitarian clinic, this field demands a unique blend of competence, judgement, adaptability and emotional resilience.

In this webinar, Hareen De Silva (CADUS, Humanitarian Medicine / Global Health) and Jamie Pattison (Winch Paramedic, Search & Rescue) share unfiltered insights from their career journeys across humanitarian response, conflict-area medical evacuation, prehospital critical care and remote rescue.

Together, they explore:

  • How clinicians carve out a career path in a field with no single “right” route

  • The human and ethical challenges of providing care with limited resources

  • Lessons from deployments to Gaza, Ukraine, refugee camps and North Sea rescue operations

  • The adaptation, humility and MDT collaboration required when working far from definitive care

  • The future of extreme medicine — from telemedicine to changing geopolitical and climate landscapes

This conversation is ideal for anyone curious about life working on the edges of healthcare, or for clinicians considering humanitarian, expedition, SAR, HEMS or remote medical roles.

More Information

Length: 38m
Host: Eoin Walker

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Describe diverse career pathways within extreme medicine

  • Identify different roles across humanitarian response, SAR, remote prehospital care and expedition medicine.

  • Recognise how clinicians from various backgrounds (e.g., GP, paramedic) integrate their skill sets into extreme medical environments.

2. Analyse the skill sets required for safe practice in high-risk, resource-limited environments

  • Discuss the importance of generalism, adaptability, field decision-making and recognising the limits of competence.

  • Explain how environmental factors and operational pressures alter clinical priorities and cognitive load.

3. Evaluate the role of multidisciplinary teamwork and communication in extreme settings

  • Explain how clinicians collaborate with logisticians, operators, engineers, nurses and non-medical specialists.

  • Reflect on the importance of humility, shared situational awareness and psychological safety within small teams.

4. Identify ethical challenges commonly encountered in extreme medicine

  • Assess how clinicians manage constrained resources, non-ideal care environments, triage pressures and high patient volume.

  • Examine ethical dilemmas arising from humanitarian operations, transport decisions and conflicting operational objectives.

5. Discuss emerging trends shaping the future of extreme medicine

  • Explore how telemedicine, remote diagnostics, technological innovation and climate-driven displacement may reshape practice.

  • Identify opportunities and challenges for raising standards of care in hostile, remote or politically fragile contexts.

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