Dear colleague,

A superb summary report of the Tanzania journey of 2010 has been published by Denise Barnfather, MD, New Zealand, in The Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) News: Vol. 31, 1 February 2011
(Download of the publication as PDF)

On the photo gallery of www.tropmedex.com you will see now new images of ward rounds, laboratory manuals, field excursions and lectures from Tropical Medicine Expeditions carried out in 2011.


I hope I have been able to spark your interest,

Kay Schaefer
MD, PhD, MSc, DTM&H

TROPMEDEX - Tropical Medicine Expeditions (Since 1995)

Program: During the 13 days round-trip (by road and air) healthcare professionals visit various teaching hospitals, outpatient clinics, research centres and NGO’s in rural and urban areas of Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. Tropical medicine experts from Germany and East Africa supervise individual on-site bedside teaching, laboratory manuals (hands-on microscopy on parasites in the blood, stool, urine and skin), field excursions and give lectures in English. The curriculum covers the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and control of important tropical infectious diseases (Malaria, African Trypanosomiasis, Visceral Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis, Lymphatic Filariasis, Onchocerciasis, Brucellosis, Dengue Fever and other arboviral infections etc). Participants see also AIDS patients with opportunistic infections, who occupy up to 40% of the beds in Africa hospitals. Travel medicine topics include: dive medicine, altitude sickness, travellers diarrhoea, WHO vaccination guidelines for travelers and poisonous reptiles. In addition the participants get an insight into the local healthcare system and explore during epidemiological field excursions the fantastic scenery and prolific flora and fauna in East Africa.


Ward rounds in Mukumu Hospital, Kakamega / Kenya

Summary report after 37 Tropical Medicine Expeditions:

Between 1995 and 2011 a total of 37 Tropical Medicine Expeditions have been carried out and supervised by Dr. Kay Schaefer. 18 took place in Kenya, 16 in Uganda and 3 in Tanzania. A total of 320 healthcare professionals from all over the world have been trained on Tropical Medicine and Travellers Health during the 2-week-long courses (on average 9 participants per course). Among them were 172 women (54%) and 148 men (46%). The average age was 45 years. Regarding ancestry, 217 (68%) of the participants came from Europe, 69 (22%) from USA/Canada, 17 (5%) from Australia, 10 (3%) from Asia and 7 (2%) from Africa. The specialized fields were divided as follows: 125 (39%) General Practitioners, 68 (21%) Physicians, 39 (12%) Tropical Medicine experts, 26 (8%) Public Health experts, 21 (7%) Occupational Health experts, 16 (5%) Microbiologists/Laboratory specialists, 10 (3%) Paediatricians, 7 (2%) Dermatologists as well as doctors and scientists from other specializations.

For more information go to the TROPMEDEX website at www.tropmedex.com (Check: frontpage > "Summary report, publications and testimonials after 37 expeditions")