The 25th Anniversary and Annual Meeting of the Wilderness Medical Society will be held in Snowmass, Colorado, July 26-30, 2008.   You can learn more about the meeting and register at www.wms.org/. 

The meeting has 49.5 continuing medical education (CME) and 46.25 Fellowship of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) credit hours for participants through lectures, skills instruction and 49 different workshops.   The conference committee has brought together many of the finest presenters from years past for this special anniversary.  While this is a physician oriented society you’ll find the Wilderness Medical Society very welcoming to non-physicians, especially those of us who practice wilderness medicine as part of our profession of outdoor and wilderness education.

We've come a long way from the days of first aid courses with wilderness advice from our friendly local climbing doctor.  We have curriculum such as WFA and WFR that many organizations have decided are the most relevant for their outdoor program leaders.  We have research, textbooks, journals and a professional Academy to recognize those with extensive study in this speciality.   We have evidence to guide what we need to know.  We've discarded practices we learn are ineffective, and focus on what we believe is relevant and practical for the context in which we practice.  A 25th annual meeting is testimony to the development of this legitimate medical specialty of wilderness medicine.