International
Health draws on all health disciplines and applies them to international
settings.
Our program prepares professionals to assume major positions of leadership in healthcare at home and abroad, and train U.S. health professionals for roles in international agencies and in collaborative overseas projects. One of the highlights of the program at the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine is the certificate in Wilderness Medicine.
Wilderness medicine, in the context of emergencies, presumes that the ambulance or air ambulance is hours to days from arriving. This is a very real possibility when the injury occurs on a backcountry trail, and someone may well have to walk out to summon help or the patient may have to be laboriously carried out. Wilderness medicine also includes such matters as environmental injury from cold, heat, or high altitude, the effects of toxic plants and animals, and the types of injuries that may be experienced from the stresses of moving and working in the outdoors. By necessity, wilderness medicine includes the basics of rescue and transport in backcountry settings.
Our graduates pursue careers in international agencies, national assistance organizations, private foundations, and volunteer organizations.