Introduction to Wilderness Medicine
Instructor: Robert Derlet, Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine
Description: This course will familiarize students with the basics elements of wilderness medicine and physiology. Students will learn to understand the dangers from exposure in a wilderness environment from a health care perspective in a wide range of wilderness settings from the meadows of the Sierra Nevada to the jungles of equatorial Africa. Multiple topics will be covered, for example: wilderness survival, snakebites, infections and water purification, hypothermia, high altitude sickness, and many others. This seminar will follow a lecture/discussion format and selected readings will be provided by the instructor. Students who participate in wilderness activities will have a better understanding of the science and physiology of human interaction in wilderness environments and be able to avoid injury and illness and provide first aid. The goals and objectives of this seminar are to familiarize the students with the basic elements of wilderness medicine. Students will learn to understand the dangers from exposure to a wilderness environment from a health care perspective. The course also offers the basic fundamentals and concepts of specific first aid treatments for wilderness medicine and will emphasize preventative care to avoid illnesses in a wilderness environment and rational for treatment of injured or ill patients. A variety of selected topics will be covered over an eight-week course with two hours of discussion/lecture each week. A parallel goal of the seminar will be to invigorate and motivate students who are taking courses in biological sciences, chemistry, physics and other basic science courses by providing specific examples of how theories, principles, and concepts in each of these disciplines is applicable to wilderness physiology.
Format: The seminars plan of work will include two hours of discussion/lecture/case discussion each week and will involve Dr. Derlet, as well as several experienced speakers in the area of wilderness medicine. The instructor will provide course and syllabus material. Evaluation, understanding and therapy of wilderness emergencies will follow the guidelines of the Wilderness Medical Society.The schedule of activities involved includes eight weekly seminars. Specific topics to be covered include: week 1) introduction to wilderness medicine, course overview, basic first aid and case examples of wilderness medical problems; week 2) cold emergencies (hypothermia/frostbite) and heat emergencies; week 3) international wilderness travel medical problems and infectious disease problems; week 4) physiology, medical effects, and treatment of snakebites; week 5) drowning, marine injuries and tropical water problems; week 6) wilderness trauma and lightning injuries; week 7) high altitude sickness and solar injury; week 8) wilderness dermatology, and wilderness survival (“living off the land”). Work outside the seminar hours will be limited to selected reading. Grading: Grade will be based on attendance and class participation (20%), and a quiz at the end of each seminar (60%), and final exam (20%).
About the Instructor: Dr. Derlet has extensive experience in wilderness areas throughout the world. He has traveled in remote areas of over 45 countries. He has published numerous papers on issues related to wilderness medicine. He has hiked thousands of miles in the Sierra Nevada mountains and currently has on-going research projects involving water quality and pollution in Kings Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. He lectures nationally on topics related to Emergency Medicine and has taught several freshman seminars at UC Davis.