Travel Medicine

Travel medicine is a speciality that is not restricted to travel vaccines and the provision of malaria prevention tablets. Travel medicine covers a wide range of activities that include:

• Medical assessment of fitness for scuba diving
• Assessment for and advice on travel to high altitudes (above 15,000 ft)
• Advice to expeditions to remote locations
• Advice to aid agency and development workers living and working in conditions of high disease risk (refugee camps, slums and extremely remote locations)

An effective travel medicine consultation aims to anticipate all foreseeable risks for a given traveller's trip. It also aims to put in place effective response mechanisms in the event of a problem arising during the trip. Effective response mechanisms include: advice on how to treat common conditions; equipping the patient with basic treatment medicines and providing the patient with the clinic's email and telephone contact information should specific advice be required in the event that a problem arises.