Disaster Medicine (EMDM) – (M.Sc.)

The management of the medical effects of a disaster is one of the most difficult tasks to be performed by medical personnel. It requires specific knowledge, the ability to plan and organize a health system, adapted to the disaster situation and the professional skill to provide medical care of high quality in an austere environment.

Many recurring difficulties or problems that plague the medical response in disasters are due to insufficient education and training of the involved personnel, poor understanding of the medical disaster plans, procedures and protocols and low levels of skill and experience. Therefore, an appropriate education and training in all aspects of disaster medicine are essential for planners, key personnel and all actors involved in the disaster medical and health response. This will necessitate the educational involvement of academic authorities in association with qualified professionals in disaster medicine and disaster management.

The main aims of the European Master in Disaster Medicine (EMDM) are:

* to improve the competence in disaster medicine and the medical disaster management competencies for health workers in order to form high-level professionals in the field of disaster medicine qualified to work as academics, staff members or field workers for international, governmental, and non-governmental organizations.
* to highly contribute to the global development of disaster medicine as an academic discipline through the creation of a global network of education and research.

The learning outcomes of the EMDM are:

* to assess the epidemiological impacts and the health risks of disasters;
* to participate in the medical preparedness and planning for disasters;
* to direct the medical response in disaster situations;
* to master the medical managerial and care aspects of specific disasters;
* to organize and manage the psychosocial support of victims and rescuers in disaster situations;
* to organize and manage evaluation and debriefing sessions;
* to organize education and training in disaster medicine and medical disaster management;
* to supervise, develop and conduct innovative research on the medical aspects of disasters in multidisciplinary and applied settings.