Tropical Medicine

Goal:
To prepare health professionals with clinical backgrounds to deal with the important medical and public health problems of tropical developing countries, and to provide training for students who wish to be eligible for certification in clinical tropical medicine and traveler’s health (by exam, given by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene).  Use this link to visit the Tropical Medicine Department's web pages.

Career paths of graduates:
Working with World Health Organization (WHO), Epidemiology Intelligence Service (EIS) at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, positions with medical mission organizations and overseas military assignments, and preventive medicine.

Degrees offered:
MPH&TM

Academic Advisor:
Richard Oberhelman, MD
Tidewater Building, Suite 2210
504.988.2511
oberhel@tulane.edu

In-person interviews are preferred for MD/MPH Combined Degree Program applicants who wish to pursue an MPH&TM and who wish to be considered for scholarships.

Tropical Medicine Degree Requirements
MD/MPH Combined Degree students pursuing an MPH&TM in Tropical Medicine complete the following requirements:

• School of Medicine coursework
• Required SPHTM coursework
• Practicum (fulfilled, in part, by the MD/MPH rotation)
• Culminating experience

Required SPHTM coursework, including the following:

• Core Courses
• Programmatic Courses
  TRMD 632 1st year/ Spring Preventive Tropical Medicine 2 hrs
  TRMD 605 2nd year/ Fall Medical Helminthology 2 hrs
  TRMD 607 2nd year/ Fall Medical Protozoology 2 hrs
  TRMD 609 2nd year/ Fall Parasitology Laboratory 1 hr
  TRMD 700 2nd year/Spring Tropical Medicine Seminar 1 hr
  TRMD 631 4th year/ Fall Clinical Tropical Medicine 2 hrs
  TRMD 633 4th year/ Fall Microbial Diseases of the Tropics 2 hrs
  TRMD 634 4th year/ Fall Diag Lab Methods in Microbiology 2 hrs
  TRMD 636 4th year/ Fall Clinical Trop Med Case Presentations 1 hr
  TRMD 700 4th year/ Fall Tropical Medicine Seminar 1 hr
  
• Elective Courses
  Work in conjunction with your advisor to choose appropriate electives to meet your minimum required number of hours.  SPHL 601 is NOT an allowable elective.
• Practicum
  The practicum requirement is fulfilled, in part, by the MD/MPH rotation.  Please refer to the MD/MPH Rotation Requirement.
• Culminating Experience
  Please meet with your advisor about culminating experience options in the Department of Tropical Medicine.

In general, students are not eligible to begin their culminating experience until the fourth year, when they are concurrently enrolled in the clinical tropical medicine courses.

SOM Scheduling Considerations for MD/MPHTM Students

Scheduling the T-4 TRMD year takes careful advance planning to meet TRMD and SOM requirements.  Please meet with your advisor to develop a long-term scheduling plan, and consider the following:

• International experiences can be taken at the end of the T-2 year and scheduled through Family and Community Medicine (this option is available to students who opt to take their boards in May).
• TRMD students must complete required SOM rotations in their T-3 year and save elective time for the T-4 year.  Choosing SOM electives in the T-3 year may limit your ability to complete the tropical medicine requirements in the T-4 year.
• TRMD students will get scheduling priority for T-4 required rotations. 
• In the T-4 year, some students choose to couple public health classes with one SOM vacation month.  This is optional. 
• In the T-4 year, you may use one SOM elective month from Sep, Oct, or Nov to take TRMD classes only: during this month, count seven public health credit hours as one month of SOM elective.  This is optional. 
• In the T-4 year, while taking public health coursework, students are allowed to schedule SOM electives from the approved list below.  Medical students are not allowed to take public health coursework during any required SOM rotations or clerkships.  In the T-4 year, during two months from Sep, Oct, or Nov, you may schedule SOM electives from the approved list:
• • Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  • Adult Infectious Diseases
  • Pathology rotations (including Dermatopathology, Cytopathology, Surgical Pathology, and Autopsy)
  • Research elective
• You may request to complete other SOM electives while you are completing your TRMD coursework; however, you must have the clerkship director’s written approval, and your public health advisor’s written approval.  See your TRMD advisor or use this link for the elective approval forms.
• You must complete the required MD/MPH rotation in your T-4 spring

Your T4 fall will look something like this:

	Jul, Aug	Sept, Oct, & Nov	Dec
SPHTM activities	none	8 hrs public health TRMD courses during all three months	TRMD exams as necessary (TRMD faculty will work with your SOM schedule)
SOM activities	required rotations	Fill three months by selecting one of the following options for each month: vacation or pre-approved elective (see above) or SOM TRMD elective (may use for only one month) or specially requested SOM elective (see above)	SOM required or elective rotation