The Military Tropical Medicine Course, now a joint Army-Navy effort, continues the long tradition of the former Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) Tropical Medicine Course and the Navy’s Medicine in the Tropics Course. Designed to offer advanced training in tropical medicine to Army, Navy, and Air Force medical officers, this course covers a broad range of topics to include viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections, environmental illnesses, pre- and post-travel medical evaluations, outbreak investigations, and public health issues in the developing world. The 4-week didactic curriculum includes lectures from nationally recognized experts in the field of tropical medicine, as well as hands-on laboratory training in the identification of tropical disease pathogens. There is a comprehensive lab practical and written exam at the end of the course, as well as weekly quizzes.
In addition to the 4-week didactic portion of the course, there is an optional 2-week field mission that provides selected students the opportunity to solidify core concepts learned in the lecture and lab portions of the course. Those selected for the field mission are divided into teams and sent to a location overseas in a resource-limited setting. The first week of the field mission includes clinical rounds in an inpatient hospital setting. During the second week, teams conduct public health activities in a rural location. The elective field mission is also open to any MTM course graduate who completed the 4-week didactic portion of the course within the past 5 years but was unable to previously participate in the field mission.
