Wilderness Medical Society: The First Dozen Years

Abstract

This manuscript has been prepared as the tenth Annual Meeting of the Wilderness Medical Society approaches. It consists of a chronological history of the society from its founding in 1982 as a “Mom and Pop” organization headquartered in Dr. Edward Geehr's study to its current status as a national organization with a part-time executive director, two full-time employees, access to the resources of the American College of Sports Medicine, an international journal, a quarterly newsletter, and over 2800 members. Its educational programs now include annual summer and winter national scientific meetings plus at least one annual national specialty meeting, local and regional meetings, curricula for medical school wilderness medicine electives and prehospital wilderness emergency care courses, position papers on relevant topics, and teaching aids, including slide collections. It has an active program for sponsoring research in wilderness medicine and promotes the health of travelers and global health through its Environmental Council.