CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – If you found yourself stuck in the wilderness with a need for medical attention, Parkridge Medical Group Diagnostic Center’s Dr. Eugene Ryan is someone you’d want to have with you.
Dr. Ryan, who practices internal medicine with the Diagnostic Center group, recently earned a Fellowship from the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. This designation recognizes a physician’s mastery of a wide range of academic knowledge and practical skills needed to practice medicine with limited resources in an austere environment.
While Dr. Ryan realizes that most of his day-to-day patients might not benefit from his wilderness medical knowledge, he explains that he chose to work toward receiving this designation because of his recreational activities and because the training could prove useful in his work as a Venture Crew Advisor with the Boy Scouts of America. “Conventional internal medicine training is very useful, but it is not exactly what I need out in the woods or on the river,” Dr. Ryan explains. “I pursued the Wilderness Medicine fellowship because I wanted to be able to effectively improvise and provide stabilizing medical care if needed while hiking, camping or rafting in remote areas.”
The Academy of Wilderness Medicine was organized in 2005 by a group of physicians with a goal of providing information about practicing medicine outside the traditional settings with limited resources. Several of the Academy’s fellows have been called on to serve as resources for treks to some extremely challenging environments, such as mountain climbing trips to Nepal. For more information about the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, visit www.wms.org.