Travel Medicine Program

The Travel Medicine course is an online course designed to help healthcare practitioners prepare for the ISTM Certificate in Travel Health. It builds on the knowledge from the basic immunization competency program, with a much greater focus on diseases and conditions related to travel.

Patients trust the information and advice from pharmacists. In fact, 9 in 10 will turn to pharmacists for advice on travel disease risks and for necessary vaccines.* As more and more patients turn to pharmacists, it is important for pharmacists to be ready with knowledge to prepare patients for travel.

The goal of this course is to prepare you to write the ISTM certification exam, and it will equip you to conduct pre-travel risk assessments, provide travel advice around prevention, immunization, chemoprophylaxis, and self-treatment, as well as recognize post-travel infections and refer to specialists or emergency care when necessary.

More information about the ISTM Certificate in Travel Health can be found on the ISTM website.

This program consists of 10 online modules, with short quizzes at the end of each module, followed by a 73-question multiple-choice exam. Please note: that there is no audio or video with this program.

The course modules are as follows:

• Module 1 Course Introduction (10 mins)
  Introduction to the course & module set up

• Module 2 Travel statistics and WHO (20 mins)
  Travel statistics & World Health Organization - International Health Regulations

• Module 3 Epidemiology of travel-related illnesses (30 mins)
  Epidemiology (patterns, studies, causes of disease) of travel-related illnesses

• Module 4 Immunology (40 min)
  Immunology

• Module 5.1 Food, and water-borne diseases (9.25 hours)
  Introduction, Prevention, Amebiasis, Brucellosis, Campylobacteriosis, Cholera, Cryptosporidiosis, Cyclosporiasis, Echinococcosis/cysticercosis/helminths, Giardiasis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, Legionella, Poliomyelitis, Seafood poisoning/toxins, Shigellosis, Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, Travellers' diarrhea and dehydration, Typhoid fever

• Module 5.2 Person to person contact diseases (3 hours)
  Introduction, Prevention, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Tuberculosis

• Module 5.3 Vector associated diseases (10 hours)
  Introduction, Prevention, Chikungunya, Dengue fever, Japanese Encephalitis, Leishmeniasis - Cutaneous, Leishmaniasis - Visceral, Leptospirosis, Lyme disease, Lymphatic filariasis, Malaria, Plague, Rickettsia and related infection, Schistosomiasis, Trypanosomiasis, Chagas Disease (American), West Nile virus, Viral hemorrhagic fever, Yellow fever, Zika

• Module 6 Bites and Stings (2 hours)
  Bites and Stings Management, Jellyfish Stings, Rabies

• Module 7 Travel-related conditions (3 hours)
  Introduction, Altitude sickness, Barotrauma, Jet lag, Sun burn, Sun safety , Thromboembolism, Freezing and non-freezing injuries

• Module 8 Patient Assessment (1 hour)
  Introduction (Pre-travel, Head-to-toe, Checklist), General recommendations, Post-travel (Head-to-toe, Checklist, Common post-travel fever and symptoms, RTI, SSTI, Eosinophilia, Referral)

• Module 9 Vaccines (1 hour)
  Different types of vaccines, Schedules, Storage, vaccination techniques (IM, ID, SC), reconstitution, Management of anaphylaxis, Requirements when providing a vaccination (Lot number, expiry date etc.), Canadian Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System (CAEFISS)

• Module 10 Special populations (2 hours)
  Immunocompromised Traveller, Long Term Traveller, Mass gatherings, Pregnant Traveller, Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR)

• Module 11 Assessment (1 hour)
  Final Assessment