Educational Opportunities

Background

The resources below include links to educational opportunities relating to medicine in austere and extreme environments and the diverse fields of endeavour that this covers. We are happy to receive contributions, and to add additional categories of resources. Please contact us to contribute.

Aerospace Medicine

ESA Short Courses

The European Space Agency’s ESA Academy offers an annual Human Space Physiology Training Course. Visit this link to find out more about the ESA Academy courses: https://www.esa.int/Education/ESA_Academy/Portfolio_of_ESA_Academy_training_sessions. There are some entrance requirements (aimed at medicine/life sciences university students and a degree of affiliation with ESA is required).

UTMB ‘Principles of Aviation and Space Medicine’

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health offers an annual four-week course, typically held in July.  The goal of the course is to provide a thorough familiarization with the history of aviation, spaceflight and the specialty of aerospace medicine, human physiology in aviation and spaceflight, human factors engineering concepts related to aviation and spaceflight, the role of aerospace specialists in the selection, training, standards, medical certification and health maintenance of aviation and spaceflight personnel.  Evaluation is determined by participation in class, an oral presentation on a topic from the field of aerospace medicine.

Students who complete this course will be prepared to:

• Identify a circumstance in which human factors impose undesirable limitations on current or proposed aerospace operations
• Identify the physiologic effects of flight and spaceflight on humans
• Analyze relationships among systems that influence the health of humans in the flight and spaceflight environments
• Understand the design of air and flight space equipment, biomedical equipment, and vehicles to promote flight safety

The following core and specialty competencies are addressed: Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Systems-Based Practice, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, and Professionalism.

Applications normally close in mid-March. For more information, visit: https://www.utmb.edu/spph/aerospace-medicine/principles-of-ASM. Some scholarships have been offered in the past.

Baylor College of Medicine ‘Space Medicine Pathway’

The Baylor College of Medicine Center for Space Medicine offers cutting-edge electives and a Space Medicine Pathway to undergraduate medical students at Baylor College of Medicine. All courses are taught by Baylor faculty as well as experts from other institutions and NASA. The electives are popular and receive excellent reviews from students. See information about the curriculum and lecture videos. (Even if it’s not practical for you to undertake the pathway, it is great that the set of lecture videos is available on YouTube.)

Bioastronautics@Hopkins – Johns Hopkins Human Spaceflight Lab

Bioastronautics@Hopkins is an initiative at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, that brings together Bioastronautics, Space Medicine, and Space Health Research. They currently host a seminar series, virtual networking happy hours, and journal club for the human spaceflight community.

Via this web page you can join the mailing list and join the Slack channel: https://www.jhuhsl.space/bioastronauticshopkins/.

There is also an archive of free recordings from the Johns Hopkins Group space symposia/mini-symposia: https://cgpo.jhu.edu/human-spaceflight-special-interest-group-2/.

‘A Brief History of Human Spaceflight’ Course

The University of Houston offers a free course, ‘A Brief History of Human Spaceflight’, on the Coursera platform.

Duke University ‘Space Medicine’ Course

Duke University offers a free Space Medicine course on the Coursera platform. Follow Dominic Tanzillo on Twitter for updates. Read more about the course and its founders here.

Upcoming Webinars

There is usually a lot going on in the area of space and space health, and the best way to hear about new events is to monitor social media feed, particularly on LinkedIn and on Facebook the Space Medicine & Biology Visionaries group. If you live in the Australasian region, the Bioastronautics Australia Network may also appeal.

Conference Proceedings and Seminar Series

• The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health offers an Aerospace Seminar Series (recordings of all seminars from 2019-21 are currently available online).
• The archive of recordings from UTMB Aerospace Grand Rounds is also available: https://www.utmb.edu/spph/aerospace-medicine/ground-rounds.
• ASBX 2021 (the Australian Space Biology x Health Summit) recordings are available on YouTube (November 2021).
• 10th Australian Space Forum, 25 November 2020 – view sessions on YouTube.
• 2nd Australian Space Biology Symposium (online), 17-20 November 2020. YouTube channel with pre-recorded presentations.
• UNOOSA Space4Health webinars (14 May 2020).
• Recordings of a large number of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH)/Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Red Risk School webinars for 2018-20 are available here. Alternatively, stream all the Red Risk School seminars with the Red Risk Playlist on YouTube. You can join the TRISH mailing list to stay up-to-date on the latest TRISH solicitations and happenings.
• For the TRISH Space Health Primer visit this page (video also available on YouTube).
• A series of webinars from the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) Space Medicine and Life Sciences Project Group can be found on YouTube.
• Recordings of the Project POSSUM/IIAS Space Medicine Group April/May 2020 “Astronaut Mentality Webinar Series” are available here.

Medical Student Electives

• The University of Colorado Department of Emergency Medicine Section of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine offers a number of wilderness and space-related courses and medical student electives, including: Medical Student Elective IDPT 8059 – Space Medicine: Human Spaceflight Factors & Medical Risk Assessment – the remaining dates for 2021 will be in September (dates tba).

Aerospace

Upcoming Webinars

• Aviation/Aerospace Australia: A/AA has a special interest group for women in aerospace and the NextGenNetwork, and offers regular webinars and seminars. At present these are being offered free due to the pandemic. Check the website for upcoming events and for membership information.
• The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has a web page for Seminars & Webinars. There is a huge number of events listed, and at present many of them are offered free of charge.

Space

Upcoming Webinars

• The Space Show offers a weekly webinar on a wide range of space-related topics, usually in the afternoon European time. The Space Show has been built upon the Space4Women initiative of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) with the objective of facilitating access to the benefits of space exploration, science and technology, STEM education, and STEM careers for women and girls around the world in alignment with Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5.

Space Studies

• The International Space University offers a variety of space studies courses. See the website for details about the current course offerings, which include the annual Space Studies Program (usually held in the northern hemisphere) and the Southern-Hemisphere Space Studies Program (Adelaide, Australia).
• ISU also offers a very generous scholarship program for both of these major course offerings. See the website for more information.

• The MMAARS Virtual Astronautics Academy offers a twelve-day Analog Astronautics General Program. See the website for more information.

Mars-focused Education

• An international academic and research organization, Mars University (MarsU) is a U.S. nonprofit based in Los, Angeles, CA that was co-founded over the summer of 2020. Read about its upcoming programs here: https://www.marsu.space/academics.

Educator Space Resources

• Teaching Space With NASA (from NASA JPL). Join NASA experts and education specialists for live education webinars. Ask questions, get teaching resources and share the excitement of space exploration with students.
• NASA STEM Engagement. This website offers a huge number of resources for both educators and students and for home-schooling.
• NASA Express – Your STEM Connection newsletter.

Wilderness and Pre-Hospital Medicine

• For students or volunteers working in the pre-hospital area, consider joining the Australasian College of Paramedicine for access to a very wide range of events, webinars, online courses, conferences, access to the College’s quarterly electronic magazine, monthly eNews and peer-reviewed journal, as well as other benefits.
• TacMed Australia offers a number of training courses. These are open to the public. There is also a resources page on the website.
• The University of Colorado Department of Emergency Medicine Section of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine offers a number of wilderness and space-related courses.
• The Global Organisation for Wilderness Medicine Education (GOWME) offers a free Wilderness and Emergency Medicine Lecture Series and an outstanding Resources page covering a wide variety of topics relating to wilderness and environmental medicine. There is also a page for Archived Lectures.
• The Wilderness Medical Society is offering a free series of “Fireside Chat” webinars for members to discuss various facets of wilderness medicine research, as well as to engage with and learn more about the WMS. These hour-long, non-CME discussions will be moderated by committee members and feature presentations as well as open Q&A.

Climate, Disaster and Emergency Medicine

One Health

• NEW! The University of Melbourne – Graduate Certificate in Infectious Disease Epidemiology
  https://study.unimelb.edu.au/find/courses/graduate/graduate-certificate-in-infectious-disease-epidemiology/

• One Health Awareness Month (January of each year)
  • https://www.onehealthcommission.org/en/events/one_health_awareness_month/

• The  “Soulsby Fellowships” are provided by The Soulsby Foundation.  The Trustees aim to award one or two Soulsby Fellowships annually through a competitive application process. Each Fellowship will be granted to an individual who has proposed an impactful project within the international field of “One Health”, and is likely to be between UK£10,000 and £15,000 in value to cover travel and subsistence expenses in carrying out the project.

Critical Care Medicine

• Monash University Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine free 1.5 hour webinar on Lessons from COVID-19 in Critical Care (YouTube channel).
• New short courses from the Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Monash University – Human Factors and Perioperative Medicine

Eye and Ear Medicine – RVEEH

• The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital (RVEEH) has a large number of high-quality GP training session and webinar recordings on its GP Education and Training webpage. This is a fabulous collection of resources.

Short Courses for Health Professionals

The Monash University Institute for Health and Clinical Education offers a wide range of short courses for health professionals in the areas below:

• Health Professions Education
• Clinical Simulation
• Public Health
• Aviation Medicine
• Statistics
• Clinical Trial Fundamentals for Public Health and Medical Research
• Occupational and Environmental Health
• Clinical Sciences and Central Clinical School
• Clinical Skills.

Further short courses are available via FutureLearn, and a number of award courses are also offered (see the websites for details).

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WEBSITE CREDITS:
~ Learning to Avoid Danger by Aurora Anna Kristiansdottir, 2020, image supplied by the creator.
~ Lithograph by an unknown author. The illustration, first appearing in a book by Camille Flammarion in 1888, was sourced from: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200405.html.