International Travel Medicine Education Program
In our effort to advance global health objectives, we award scholarships and grants to healthcare practitioners from developing countries to promote research and training in all aspects of travel medicine and health. The International Travel Medicine Education Program is fully funded by the generous voluntary contributions from IAMAT members.
Visiting Scholars Fund
IAMAT scholarships allow doctors and nurses from developing countries to become certified practitioners in travel medicine.
Successful recipients take part in an eight week intensive training program that includes small group teaching sessions, large class courses, clinical rotations, individual study, and cultural exchanges. Upon graduation, scholars return to their home country to lend their expertise in travel and tropical medicine clinical best practices, teaching their colleagues, and expanding the network of IAMAT affiliated clinics around the world. Since 2002, IAMAT has awarded 11 scholarships to international scholars who trained at the University of Washington.
The Visiting Scholars Fund is currently targeting its funding to healthcare practitioners from China - one of the most popular international travel destinations.
Visiting Scholars Fund Goals
- Provide orientation and training in clinical best practices, including:
- Pre-travel health advice for international travellers.
- Attending to the medical needs of travellers away from home.
- Post-travel consultations and medical diagnosis.
- Promote cross-cultural exchanges of medical knowledge, processes and procedures.
- Practice English language skills necessary for accurate communication.
- Prepare scholars for certification in travel medicine and health.
- Foster leadership skills for scholars to become a resource person in travel medicine and health in their home country.
Travel Medicine Certification Grants
IAMAT's grants - and moral support - to our scholarship recipients allow them to cover costs related to studying and taking the travel medicine certification exam (Body of Knowledge for the Practice of Travel Medicine) organized by the International Society of Travel Medicine.
Since 2007, three Visiting Scholars recipients have successfully passed the exam and are now fully certified as travel medicine practitioners, helping us expand the IAMAT network of medical services for travellers.
Lectureship Grants
In our efforts to encourage research in the medical aspects of travel, we give grants to international medical societies for visiting tropical medicine scholars to exchange information and research on the prevention and treatment of tropical diseases. The Dr. Vincenzo Marcolongo Memorial Lecture at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Annual Meetings, sponsored by IAMAT since 1990, is an ongoing contribution to the field.
