You can learn more about Dr. Mazumdar at Lotus Wealth Solutions and the Medical Fusion Conference .
Dr. Jerri Mendelson: A Career in Wilderness Medicine
Dr. Jerri Mendelson is a Dermatologist practicing in the northwest United States. She also is a former wildlife biologist and a recognized expert in Wilderness Medicine. In this video, Dr. Mendelson talks about her career and how she made the transition from wildlife biologist to Dermatologist. Dr. Mendelson's bio is below.
Dr. Jeri Kersten Mendelson is a board-certified dermatologist. She began her professional career as a wildlife biologist with a degree from the University of Wyoming. Her wildlife jobs took her to Wyoming, northern Thailand and eastern Oregon where she worked as a big game biologist for the Ochoco National Forest.
After leaving the Forest Service she attended the University of Oregon where she received a Masters degree studying bat echolocation. It was at the U of O where she met her husband and for the next several years followed him to Northwestern University, University of Pittsburgh and finally to the University of Arkansas for his post doctoral training in neurophysiology and physical therapy. Along this journey she taught anatomy and physiology and general biology. She attended the University of Arkansas medical school and dermatology residency program while her husband ran a medical research lab and practiced physical therapy. Together, they raised two active Razorback-loving boys.
Dr. Mendelson is a certified Dermatologist, MD FAAD and currently practices in Medford. As a clinical associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Dr. Mendelson also teaches dermatology to family practice residents during their rotations in the clinic. She has continued her educational interests by working with school groups and community organizations in sun/skin awareness programs. Jeri is a part time speaker and faculty member for the Wilderness Medicine Society.
How to Get Into Wilderness Medicine: An Interview with Dr. Howard Donner
I've been organizing and directing medical conferences since 2006. One of the benefits of these events is that I have the opportunity to meet many fascinating and inspiring individuals. Of all these individuals, one of my favorites is Dr. Howard Donner.
Howard is a hilarious person who I first heard speak at a Wilderness Medicine conference when I was still a resident. Years later, Howard authored the first chapter of our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine textbook, and has spoken numerous times at our ExpedMed events.
In this interview, I sit down with Howard to hear not only about his career, but also about the history of how Wilderness Medicine began as an organized discipline. As always, Howard's interview-- complete with outtakes and side discussions-- is lively and fun and provides a number of insights into how someone can build a career in Wilderness Medicine. I've posted his bio below the video.
Howard Donner is a Family Practice physician and a well-known expert in Wilderness Medicine. Dr. Donner served as an Expedition Physician on the 1988 Kangchenjunga Expedition, the 1997 NOVA Everest Expedition, and as a medical officer on the Denali Medical Research Project. As co-author of Field Guide to Wilderness Medicine, Dr. Donner is a frequent national lecturer and has provided medical support as a volunteer for the National Park Service. In addition to his medical expertise, Dr. Donner works as a commercial pilot and independent filmmaker.
Building a Wilderness Medicine Career: An Interview with Dr. Michael Callahan
In this video clip, Dr. Michael Callahan discusses his career in Wilderness Medicine and gives advice to other physicians about how they might develop a similar career. Dr. Callahan is a well-known expert in Wilderness Medicine. We've posted his bio below the video.
Dr. Michael Callahan is a Program Manager for Biodefense and Mass-Casualty Care at the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) and an Associate Physician at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Current wilderness medicine activities include oversight of clinical research programs to protect U.S. military personnel during sustained, extreme operations, including projects in Rapid Altitude Acclimatization and Immune Hardening. Before joining DARPA, Dr Callahan was principal investigator for the S.E. Asian Polyvalent Antivenin Trial in Na Trang, Vietnam. He maintains disaster medicine billets with two international disaster response organizations.
Build a Career in Tropical Medicine: An Interview with Professor David Warrell
In 2008, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of my medical heroes, Professor David Warrell of Oxford. Professor Warrell has had an incredible career in Tropical Medicine, having published over 400 research papers and lived in multiple countries over the courser of the past 40 years. I pulled this interview from the ExpedMed archives because it is simply so good.
In this interview, I ask Professor Warrell about his career and ask how someone could build a career in Tropical Medicine today. Below the video is a brief summary of Professor Warrell's bio.
Professor David Warrell is now Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine and Honorary Fellow of St. Cross College at the University of Oxford, UK. After training at Oxford, St Thomas’s Hospital and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK, he has lived and worked as a physician, teacher, researcher and expedition doctor in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. He is senior editor of the Oxford Textbook of Medicine and Essential Malariology and the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine and has published more than 400 research papers and textbook chapters on malaria, rabies, relapsing fevers and other infectious and tropical diseases, comparative respiratory physiology, respiratory diseases, herpetology, venomous animals, envenoming and plant and chemical poisoning. He is a consultant to the World Health Organization (on malaria, rabies, snake bites, antivenom production), British Army, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Medical Research Council, Royal Geographical Society, Zoological Society of London and Earth Watch International. He is a past President of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and International Federation for Tropical Medicine and Honorary Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ceylon College of Physicians.
Money for Expeditions & Travel
One of the big problems with expeditions and travel is the cost. With the recession, it has become increasingly difficult to find funding, even for extremely promising projects.
For those budding explorers and tropical/travel medicine scholars out there, I've put together this list of potential funding sources for your overseas projects. All have different criteria, so make sure you qualify before you apply, and please note that this list is not exhaustive. I welcome any additions to this list that you guys might have.
- Young Explorers Grant
- The Explorers Club Student Grants
- The Explorers Club Eddie Bauer Grants
- Yale/Stanford Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholars Program
- Benjamin H. Kean Traveling Fellowship in Tropical Medicine
- Gorgas Memorial Institute Research Award
- Robert E. Shope International Fellowship in Infectious Disease
- International Society of Travel Medicine Research Award
- Wilderness Medical Society Humanitarian Aid Award
Wilderness Medicine Career: How to Get Into The Explorers Club
Dr. Michael VanRooyen and Starting a Company
Dr. Michael VanRooyen is the Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. He's also the founder or co-founder of four start-up companies including Ibex, a patient tracking system for Emergency Departments that was eventually bought by Picis.
From 2002 to 2004, I worked as one of Mike's International Emergency Medicine fellows within the Johns Hopkins Department of Emergency Medicine.
This is a video clip of Mike's talk at our 2009 Medical Fusion Conference. While Mike is most well-known for his humanitarian work, he's also a very astute businessman and entrepreneur. If you're a Wilderness Medicine aficionado, you are probably familiar with Mike's work in international health, but in this video you get to see another side of him through his entrepreneurial experiences.
One of the purposes of this blog is to introduce you guys to the personalities behind the research and field work. Mike is one of those dynamic individuals who is a leader in his field, and a great prototye for those interested in making Wilderness Medicine a career focus.
Wilderness Medicine Career: What Medical Societies Should You Join?
Passport Health: Your Travel Medicine Franchise
For those interested in a career in Travel Medicine, one possibility is opening a travel medicine clinic through a franchise model with the company Passport Health.
Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, Passport Health allows owners to buy into their franchise model and "own" a specific geographic region for development. They currently have over 160 locations and their website mentions opportunities for the entrepreneurially-minded:
If you are a health care professional or entrepreneur with appropriate connections, we can help you achieve your dreams. Passport Health is an excellent business opportunity for the right individual. Passport Health is a simple, low-overhead service company, which provides immunizations to those about to travel to a foreign country. Basically, we are in the immunization business; we offer on-site services such as Flu and Hepatitis clinics. However, we also specialize in safety and security travel information. We are already a household name in many areas across the country, but there are plenty of great territories remaining.
A follow-up email from the company provided more specific information about their franchise opportunity:
We generally sell large territories, including a city and the surrounding counties, with the owner expected to open multiple offices over time. Our franchise fee is $35,000.00, and it includes training (5 business days), videos, materials and the use of our exclusive software, Passageware. There is no build-out and very limited start-up expenses. Owners consist of doctors, nurses, and entrepreneurs, with one hospital (Sentara in Norfolk) and one university system (University of Rochester School of Nursing). Due to the hard work of the individual owners and our marketing team, we are constantly adding corporate accounts and our business model is ever expanding to include all areas of vaccines.
Besides being an interesting field, Travel Medicine is open to healthcare providers from a variety of backgrounds. While many Travel Medicine providers are trained in Infectious Disease, I know physicians with many different backgrounds involved in Travel Medicine.
For those interested in Travel Medicine and desiring increased training in this area, our ExpedMed courses are an excellent way to be exposed to this niche. A prior post here on the ExpedMed blog described other, multi-month programs in Tropical Medicine that are also available for those with increased desire and more time to invest.
