About Us

Welcome to CU Wilderness & Environmental Medicine

The University of Colorado Section of Wilderness and Environmental Medicine promotes research, education, and advocacy to advance health and wellness in outdoor and extreme environments.

As a university-based enterprise, our curriculum focuses on the greater policy issues of environmental change in health, and we are committed toward advancing the conversation based upon the best scientific evidence to improve discourse and understanding.

Our classes, taught by renowned faculty, consist of pre-medical and medical students, seasoned medical practitioners, as well as general community members seeking to augment their skill sets.

Our goal is to have the most comprehensive program of its kind in the world, setting the standard of excellence in scholarship in our field.

What is Wilderness Medicine?

Wilderness Medicine is the art and science of taking care of people in remote, austere, or extreme settings.

In the absence of technology, we focus on the patient interview and physical exam as the core of patient care. We don’t hold on to antiquated aspects of care, but consider how to use the best of 21st century care in limited environments, answering questions like:

How can portable ultrasounds diagnose fractures in the field?

How can new field dressings and tourniquet techniques arrest life threatening hemorrhages?

How can you practice high level medical decision making when you’re on your own?

Our History

Our Faculty

Each of our courses and programs are run by world-class faculty and physicians from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Learn from experts in Emergency Medicine, global health, international humanitarian relief, wilderness medicine, aerospace medicine, and more.