IAMAT |International Association of Medical Assistance to Travellers| IAMAT |International Association of Medical Assistance to Travellers|

Travel Health Journal

IAMAT Scholarships

IAMAT Extends Travel Medicine Practice among Professionals in Egypt and Tanzania

For 2022, we are pleased to announce two new IAMAT Scholars: Dr. Walaa Shabana was awarded the 2021 Violet Williams Travel Medicine Scholarship (delayed attendance to 2022 due to COVID-19). Dr. Shabana is a Physician who works and teaches as an Associate Professor in the Department of Tropical Medicine at Mansoura University in Egypt. In her words, her goal following the scholarship training is to establish a “travel health center that can provide services to Egyptian and foreign travellers and to organize travel medicine related scientific meetings and workshops” for her colleagues. We are proud to have Dr. Shabana as a new IAMAT Scholar. Travellers in Egypt will benefit from her training and the launch of another travel medicine ...

IAMAT Scholars in Action: Meet Jackson and Gordon!

We are very pleased to introduce our latest IAMAT Scholars, Mr. Jackson Mutisya and Dr. Gordon Amoh! Mr. Jackson Mutisya was awarded the 2020 Violet Williams Scholar (delayed attendance due to COVID pandemic). Jackson currently practices as a nurse in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Gordon Amoh was awarded the 2021 – and first ever – Robert Haru Fisher Scholarship. He is a practicing doctor in Accra, Ghana. IAMAT Scholarships provide training in travel medicine to practitioners who are passionate about improving care for local patients and travellers in their community. Our Scholarships strive to increase the capacity of local health services so that everyone has access to safe and reliable healthcare, no matter who or where they are. For their ...

Bringing Travel Medicine to a Travel Hot-Spot: Meet IAMAT Scholar Nsisong Asanga

We are pleased to introduce you to our latest Scholar, Dr. Nsisong Asanga. Nsisong is the Medical Director of the Victor Attah International Airport Clinic in Uyo, Nigeria. Last fall, Dr. Asanga was awarded the IAMAT Stella and George Bryant Travel Medicine Scholarship. IAMAT Scholars, like Nsisong, are passionate and dedicated leaders. Upon graduation, our Scholars return to their communities to teach their colleagues and apply their new skills to improve healthcare practices in their clinics, benefitting travellers and local patients. For her training, Nsisong travelled to London, England where she completed a travel medicine short course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and participated in clinical observations at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and ...

Paul Yonga IAMAT Scholar

IAMAT Scholars in action: Dr. Paul Yonga

We are pleased to introduce you to our latest IAMAT Scholar, Dr. Paul Yonga. Paul is an infectious and tropical disease physician based in Eldoret, Kenya. He was awarded the 2019 IAMAT Violet Williams Travel Medicine Scholarship to train with the South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM) and participate in clinical observations at the Travel Doctor Clinic in Johannesburg. IAMAT Scholarships provide training in travel medicine to practitioners who are passionate about improving care for local patients and travellers in their community. Our Scholarships strive to increase the capacity of local health services so that everyone has access to safe and reliable healthcare, no matter who or where they are. We caught up with Paul to learn more ...

Manuel Villalobos and his wife at the summit of Cerro Chirripo

IAMAT Scholars: Where are they now?

Did you know that we’ve awarded over 30 travel medicine scholarships to doctors and nurses since 2002? Our scholars have gone on to conduct research on travellers’ health, implement travel medicine best practices in their communities, and become leaders in travel medicine. Today, we’re checking in with two of our past scholars, Manuel and Ramesh. Manuel Villalobos (2016) and Ramesh Maniam (2017) both received the Stella & George Bryant Travel Medicine Scholarship. They trained at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London, UK. We caught up with Manuel and Ramesh to see how they’re putting their knowledge into practice. What are IAMAT Scholarships? Our scholarships help practitioners who are already ...

IAMAT women scholars

International Women’s Day: Celebrating Women in Travel Medicine

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we are proud to highlight the achievements of IAMAT women scholars. This year’s theme, Gender Balance, highlights the need for gender parity and how we can all play a role to advance the professional, social, and personal success of women. Historically, and still today in some countries, women have been prevented or discouraged from participating in medical fields. Although great progress has been made, supporting health practitioners who are women continues to be our goal, particularly in countries where opportunities for travel medicine training are limited. IAMAT Scholarships provide travel medicine training to doctors and nurses who need it most. Since its inception in 2002, the program has awarded over 30 scholarships to ...

Yetunde sitting at a desk.

IAMAT Scholars in action: Expanding travel medicine in Nigeria

We are pleased to introduce you to our latest IAMAT Scholar, Dr. Yetunde Fadipe of Nigeria. Yetunde received an IAMAT Scholarship to study and train with expert travel medicine faculty in London, UK. Last November, she participated in an intensive 5-day travel medicine course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The training also involved clinical observations at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and at the National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) where she learned how to provide pre-travel advice to travellers. IAMAT Scholarships are fully funded through generous donations from IAMAT members. They provide training in travel medicine to practitioners who are passionate about improving care in their community for local patients and travellers. Here’s ...

Dr. Marybeth Maritim on the White Nile river in Uganda.

Meet Marybeth: Travel medicine beyond vaccines

Marybeth Maritim is a physician, university lecturer, and travel medicine practitioner in Nairobi, Kenya. We were thrilled to award her the 2018 IAMAT Violet Williams Travel Medicine Scholarship. In May, Marybeth travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa to attend a travel medicine course with the South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM). The intensive 5-day course covered all aspects of travel medicine. She also had the opportunity to see how a travel clinic operates at the Travel Doctor Clinic. We caught up with Marybeth to find out more about her vision for travel medicine in Kenya. Travel medicine beyond vaccines For Marybeth, one of the most valuable parts of the SASTM course was learning new ways to educate her patients ...

2016 IAMAT scholars Manuel and Weedgina

Travel medicine pioneers in Haiti and Costa Rica

A new frontier for IAMAT scholars We were thrilled to award the Stella & George Bryant Travel Medicine Scholarship to two deserving doctors in 2016. The scholarship enabled Weedgina St Vil of Cap-Haïtien, Haiti and Manuel Villalobos of San José, Costa Rica to take a travel medicine short course at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in November. Weedgina and Manuel also participated in clinical observation at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases travel clinic. We are grateful to Dr. Ron Behrens for organizing the course at LSHTM and making the clinical component possible. Meet Weedgina and Manuel Manuel and Weedgina are using what they learned to become travel medicine pioneers in Costa Rica and Haiti. Both ...

Angeline telling her colleagues about IAMAT at UTMB.

From Egypt to China: Scholars hone travel health knowledge

Exploring travel medicine and global health Cross-cultural experience is invaluable for travel medicine practitioners. Three of our scholars recently had the opportunity to hone their knowledge and skills with travel health experts in South Africa and the USA. Ahmad Mosad Ibraheem of Mansoura, Egypt attended a 5-day course in Johannesburg with the South African Society of Travel Medicine (SASTM). Meng Jing (Angeline) of Chengdu, China and Liu Chunfang (Kathleen), of Shenzhen, China spent 8 weeks studying tropical medicine and global health at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Angeline and Kathleen currently practise travel medicine, while Ahmad is planning to introduce it into his practice. After they recovered from jet lag, we caught up with ...