Anchor building class on the climbing section.
Photo: Abe Goodale
The Wilderness Medicine and Rescue Semester is a unique blend of wilderness skills, medicine, rescue, leadership and environmental studies curriculum.
The semester starts with an intensive four week Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician (WEMT) course, followed by nine field weeks of canyon backpacking, canoeing and rock climbing. The semester is woven with themes of leadership, expedition behavior, communication and decision-making, as well as wilderness evacuation, swift water and rock rescue skills. The environmental studies curriculum focuses on the impact of environmental health on human health.
Students learn to line their canoe through a rapid.
Photo: Craig Muderlak
This demanding semester will challenge you in both traditional and wilderness classrooms.
The days are long and the expectations are high. The rigors of this semester will provide you with the theoretical and practical foundations for a career in outdoor recreation, medicine and rescue.
WMI's Wyss Wilderness Medicine Campus in Wyoming is the home for the classroom, scenarios and clinical rotations of the WEMT course.
A month-long backpacking expedition through the red rock canyons of southern Utah focuses on fundamental wilderness skills, leadership and wilderness evacuations.
A multi-week expedition through Utah’s scenic river canyons will introduce you to river canoeing and swiftwater rescue skills.
The rock climbing section will include basic skills such as bouldering, belaying, and knots as well as rock rescue skills and continued themes of leadership and environmental studies.
Certifications
Wilderness and Urban Emergency Medical Technician, CPR Instructor, Leave No Trace Master, Basic Swiftwater and Rock Rescue.
You could be a member of a Search and Rescue team, leading wilderness trips, running safety on river rapids, assisting with rock rescue, or working on an urban ambulance. If this is how you want to spend your time, this semester is for you.
