Taking Healthcare to the Extreme

Delivering healthcare in demanding situations has always been a part of medicine, particularly within the military, where medics, nurses, doctors and field surgeons are the first line of assistance, saving the lives of troops all over the world.

A new field known as "extreme medicine" recognizes that there are additional opportunities for medical professionals to provide services in challenging environments, whether it be in a field hospital in the midst of an outbreak in Africa, a research laboratory in Antarctica or on a space station orbiting Earth.

Recent visitors to the GNL are part of a team working together to create a Master's in Extreme Medicine program within the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UTMB.

Professor Mark Hannaford of World Extreme Medicine and Dr. Cheryl Lowry, Director of UTMB's Aerospace Medicine Residency Program, are part a team collaborating to develop the curriculum that will offer UTMB students new and interesting course options that can prepare them for career opportunities they may never have imagined existed.

Professor Hannaford's many accomplishments include more than 30 years of expeditions on every continent in the world, as well as the development of the World Extreme Medicine Conference and creation of the masters degree program in Extreme Medicine at University of Exeter Medical School. He and his team have also provided medical support services to "extreme" television programming, such as the SURVIVOR series.

In addition to directing the Aerospace Medicine Residency Program at UTMB, Dr. Lowry is the Assistant Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Polar Medical Operations at UTMB. She joined UTMB in 2018 following an impressive career in the Air Force where she provided strategic guidance and operational support for Air Force bases around the world.