At the forefront

The European Master in Disaster Medicine (EMDM) is dedicated to improve the competence in disaster medicine and the disaster medical competencies for health professionals in order to form high-level professionals qualified to work as academics, staff members or field workers for international, governmental, and non-governmental organizations.

Intense international cooperation and support

The European Master in Disaster Management is organized in cooperation with the Università del Piemonte Orientale (Novara, Italy). Co-organizing insititutions are the Katastrofmedicinskt Centrum (Linköping, Sweden), University of Calfornia (Irvine, US) and the Université de Genève et Hôpitaux Univeritaires de Genève (Switzerland).

The EMDM is supported by international organizations and scientific societies with interest in disaster medicine and humanitarian health: the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and the European Society for Emergency Medicine.

Aim of the study

Managing 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 is 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.

How does it work?

This master provides a clear picture of current concepts and developments in the strategic and tactical management of the medical aspects of disasters.

It provides you with a number of skills which are important in the pursuance of disaster management:

• leadership
• decision making
• communication
• coordination skills
• stress management
• working in multidisciplinary teams
• the use of information technology

You also learn to to teach and train disaster medical management at health professions schools and perform research in order to contribute to the further development of disaster medicine as an academic discipline. This master gives you the opportunity to be included in a worldwide network of disaster medical professionals.

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes of this master are:

• to assess the epidemiological and health risks in disaster situations
• 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 psychological support of disaster victims and rescuers
• to organize and manage evaluation and debriefing sessions
• to organize education and training in disaster medicine and disaster medical management
• to master the medical managerial aspects in complex humanitarian emergencies
• to understand the legal and ethical aspects in disaster management and
• to supervise, develop and conduct research on the medical aspects of disasters

Job opportunities

As a graduate of the Master in Disaster Medicine you can be assigned to following positions:

• Advisor and/or manager of disaster medical management in local, regional and federal administrations
• Officer responsible for the hospital disaster management
• Advisor and/or manager of disaster medical management in international organizations (UN, WHO, OCHA....)
• Executive officer in non-governmental organizations responsible for disaster medical management
• Responsible staff member for education in disaster medicine in medical schools
• Researcher in the medical aspects of disasters in academic centres

Admission requirements and programme

To start the programme, you need to have a university Master degree in a subject of health care, health management, or public health.

All necessary information regarding the admission requirements, deadlines and application forms, as well as more information on the programme itself, can be found on the website of the European Master of Disaster Medicine.

Language requirements

In order to be admitted, you need to be proficient in English.