World Extreme Medicine Podcast

Host Stephen Wood and Dr Sanjey Gupta discussed wilderness medicine in the virtual world. Forced to switch content from live and in situ to Zoom, Dr Gupta and his colleagues had to get creative. Most of Gupta’s teaching is in the environment that they are teaching to; the woods, mountains or fields and is mostly hands-on. Having to switch to the virtual environment, Dr Gupta and his colleagues fli...

In this episode, WEMCast host Dr Shawna Pandya dives deep into this very question with none other than AstroRN Starr Schroeder , a nurse passionate about pioneering, defining, and developing the role of nursing in the commercial space industry as well as advocating for the continued development of space medicine in current and future space exploration. Listen in as Shawna and Starr talk about the...

In this session host Stephen Wood speaks with Dr Louis Nguyen and Dr Liz Yates, surgeons and researchers at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston discuss the impact of climate change on healthcare and patient outcomes. Dr Yates and Dr Nguyen discussed the large carbon footprint of the healthcare industry, especially in developed nations. This includes the large amount of waste that stems from...

Host, Stephen Wood and Dr Anne Pringle, a mycologist and botanist, tell the story of the Amanita Phalloides mushroom. This is not a mushroom native to the United States, but it has found its way there in an unsuspecting way, cork trees. These cork trees were imported for use by California wineries but they had a stowaway, the Amanita Phalloides or death cap mushroom. Death caps are toxic mushrooms...

Occupational Health is concerned with the impact of health on work and vice versa.  We discuss the key approaches and broad principles in matching an individual’s medical background with the environment and making sensible decisions about whether they should participate with a focus on diving, military deployments, offshore oil and gas and expeditions.   We cover: Why preparation is the key to suc...

Jocelyn Kelly is the founding director for Harvard Humanitarian Initiative’s (HHI) Women in War program, and currently is a fellow at HHI where she designs and implements projects to examine issues relating to gender, peace, and security in fragile states. Kelly has been conducting health-related research using qualitative and quantitative research methods for over eight years both in national and...

In this episode Medical Director Dr Will Duffin welcomes back The Natural Navigator Tristan Gooley to share insights from his latest book ‘The Secret World of Weather’.    They discuss: Early 19th-century technology and attempts at weather forecasting and what happened to Admiral Robert Fitzroy when he first attempted to predict the weather…. Why ‘big weather’ that is forecast on modern supercompu...

In this episode we chat with Johnathan Povey, Operating Department Practitioner (ODP) turned humanitarian clinician. Johnathan speaks of his multiple deployments to various contexts from an initial humanitarian training course in 2012. He recalls some of his most challenging cases, teams and contexts that he has had to work in over 11 years in humanitarian conflict and disaster. We also cover in t...

Dr Stephen Rush is a Lt. Colonel and Flight Surgeon. He is the former medical director for Pararescue and the current medical group commander of the 106th Rescue Air Wing in New York. He is a radiation oncologist by trade but brings a wealth of experience in operational medicine to the table. Dr Rush was a key consultant for the Thai Cave rescue that is an international success story and template...

In this podcast, Dr Jen Sherman is joined by Belinda Kirk, explorer, author and speaker. Belinda is an explorer and a leading campaigner for the promotion of the benefits of adventure on wellbeing. For the past twenty-five years, she has led dozens of international expeditions and remote filming trips. In 2009, Belinda established Explorers Connect, a non-profit organisation connecting people to a...

In this episode Consultant Occupational Medicine Physician Dr Kent Haworth joins WEM host Dr Will Duffin to discuss assessing medical fitness for extreme environments. Occupational Health is concerned with the impact of health on work and vice versa.  We discuss the key approaches and broad principles in matching an individuals medical background with the environment and making sensible decisions...

Dr Sush Prusty is the director of EMS at Steward St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. He also serves as the medical director for Boston College EMS as well as local EMS agencies. Dr Prusty earned his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed his residency at Boston...

In this session, we interview Gaynor Price. Gaynor is an emergency physician based in New Zealand and has developed a subspecialty interest in ultrasound in ED. We take a look at point of care ultrasound, its utility and its limitations. We will be especially focussing on the EFAST and how it has been adaptive and progressive in point of care treatment in the past 5 years....

Host Stephen Wood is joined by, Stefano Tricanico a polar explorer, spelunker, engineer and medic. He was born and raised in South Africa, which is what lit the spark for his interest in adventure. He has been exploring the earth’s wild places for over 20 years and documenting his travels using photography as a tool to share his experiences. Stefano has led an adventurous and nomadic life dominate...

This was a joint podcast with our friends & colleagues at PHEMcast – to hear more from them, have a look at their podcasts, blog and resources. In this episode doctors, Sean Hudson, Matthew Boulter and paramedic Eoin Walker discuss their experiences from the jungle, common medical issues, self-care, common diseases and the challenges of decision making and evacuation.  

From Afghanistan to Uganda, Haiti to Somalia, Yvette Gonzalez has over two decades’ experience with capacity-building and community stabilization in kinetic war zones, natural disasters, and impoverished areas. In this episode, she shares her experiences and lessons learned from her experiences building resilience in disaster zones with host,  Dr Shawna Pandya - including where to find some downti...

Will Mackin is a 23-year veteran of the US Navy. He has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, first as a navigator aboard a carrier-based jet, then as a joint terminal attack controller attached to a SEAL team. His first book, Bring Out the Dog (Random House, 2018), won the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection. During his fellowship, Mackin is working on “Animals,” a collection o...

Sarah Spelsberg is an Emergency medicine Physicians Assistant and Fellow of Extreme and Wilderness Medicine (FEWM), who has spent the last 4 years working in a remote outpost in the Aleutian Islands - sandwiched between the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea - a truly rugged place, where ‘The Deadliest Catch’ was filmed! Sarah's desire to challenge herself and her clinical skills has enabled her to...

From the Thai-Burmese border conducting important work on men’s health to the most isolated oil rigs to COVID-19 response to biosensor technology development for prehospital care, Dr Johannes Svensoy has hit nearly square on the extreme medicine Bingo card! In this episode, he and WEMCast host Dr Shawna Pandya discuss his experiences in tropical, disaster, aerospace medicine and more, lessons lear...

Join new addition to the podcasting team, USA-based Emergency Nurse Practitioner Steve Wood as he discusses bringing Emergency Medicine to low resource communities.  Aimee Tang is an emergency medicine physician and MPH with years of clinical experience in a busy urban hospital in New York City. She also has an interest in public health and bringing training in emergency medicine to underserv...

In this conversation, we talk with Carl Betts reflecting on practice as a paramedic. Carl is a Paramedic and quality improvement fellow based in Sheffield working for the ambulance service. He has been a Paramedic for 9 years and has a 10-year extensive history of expeditions featuring multiple trips to Everest base camp, K2, Mongolia, South Africa, Swaziland, Kangchenjunga, Toubkal, Aconcagua, Pa...

In this episode, Dr Jen Sherman is joined by Anna-Marie Watson. Anna-Marie was an officer in the British Army for 9 years and completed three operational tours. An experienced Expedition Leader, she is no stranger to extreme and hostile environments. Anna-Marie has two passions, ultramarathons and coaching. Prior to Covid, Anna-Marie regularly achieved podium positions in the Ultra-marathon world...

In this episode, we speak with Stian Mohrsen about the basics of critical care. Stian is a retrieval practitioner working in Scotland with particular clinical interests in pre-hospital emergency and critical care, major and complex trauma, resuscitation, paediatrics and human factors. He is also a part-time lecturer at Sterling university on the paramedic science degree program.   In the episode h...

In this episode, Dr Will Duffin speaks to BBC Chief Medical Officer Claire Fernandes, about breaking the mould in her career, what it’s like transitioning away from the NHS into private sector work. How this broadens your skillsets and horizons. How she developed an interest in occupational health and how this has opened doors for her. We talk about what her role at the BBC is like, the challenges...

In this episode, Dr Jen Sherman is joined by Bex Band. Bex is an adventurer, public speaker and writer. She is passionate about adventure, widening access to the outdoors and conservation. She is the founder of ‘Love Her Wild’ a global female adventure community with over 25,000 members. Bex has been recognised as one of the UK’s top 30 inspirational entrepreneurs. For her work advocating women in...