COURSE DURATION: 02.04.-28.06.2024, full-time attendance at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg; online participation is not possible. Please note that the course in 2024 will be held in German. Registration is possible using the following registration form.

The aim of the course is to prepare doctors for a professional activity in the tropics or subtropics. The course is also intended to enable doctors to recognise and treat imported diseases in travellers and migrants from the tropics and subtropics and to carry out preventive medical consultations.

The course is primarily intended for doctors of human medicine. Interested persons with a university degree, even if they are not physicians, can be admitted to the course. As the lectures are held in German, a very good knowledge of German is an indispensable prerequisite for participation. Some of the lectures are held in English.

The focus of the course is on the presentation of tropical diseases with their aetiology, clinic and diagnosis. Travel medicine knowledge is also taught.

Successful participation is documented with a diploma; in accordance with the further training regulations of the German medical associations, this diploma is a condition for acquiring the additional title "Tropical Medicine". The Diploma Course in Tropical Medicine 2022 has been accredited with 512 continuing education points by the Hamburg Medical Association. The course is also certified by the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

According to the continuing education regulations, the course is intended to provide the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the following areas:

• the epidemiology, recognition and treatment of tropical and travel diseases, including bacterial, viral, mycotic and parasitic infections and venomous animal accidents
• medical advice prior to travel and foreign assignments, including prophylactic measures
• health science in tropical, subtropical and low- and middle-income countries and geomedical contexts
• aspects of occupational and environmental medicine abroad, including precautionary and fitness examinations
• the indication, proper collection and handling of samples for laboratory examinations and classification of the results in the respective clinical picture
• microscopic detection of protozoa, worms and parasites.

The focus of the course is on the presentation of tropical diseases with their aetiology, clinic and differential diagnosis, as clinically active doctors make up the largest proportion of course participants.

Accordingly, the course begins with a week of introductions ranging from microscopy techniques to microbiological, parasitological and entomological basics to infection immunology. There is also an introduction to basic epidemiological terms. Tropical-specific diseases are presented in detail, with special emphasis on malaria, HIV infection in the tropics and tuberculosis. There are regular case presentations with explanations of the differential diagnosis. Furthermore, the tropical-typical specialities of various disciplines are presented, such as tropical ophthalmology, surgery in the tropics, gynaecology in the tropics, neurology in the tropics, tropical dermatology, etc.. Issues of international health, public health in the tropics and medical development cooperation are also dealt with in detail.

Similarly, knowledge of travel medicine is imparted, and participants can therefore apply for the "Travel Medicine" certificate of the German Society for Tropical Medicine and International Health (DTG) after the course. Of course, topics of migrant and refugee medicine are also addressed. Two days of the course are reserved for the topic of occupational medicine in the tropics (against the background that tropical medical practitioners in Germany are authorised to carry out the corresponding occupational health check-ups), the participants thus also acquire the authorisation to apply for the DTG certificate " Occupational Stay in the Tropics and Subtropics".

The last week includes differential diagnostic summaries and repetitions.

The Diploma Course in Tropical Medicine is usually accredited with 500 credits for continuing education by the Hamburg Medical Association. The application is in progress.

The lecturers for 2024 have not yet been determined; the following teachers taught the 2023 course.

The participation fees amount to € 4,500.00

The registration fee is € 500.00, which will be credited against the total fee of € 4,500.00. After your online registration you will receive an automatically generated confirmation. We will then send you a payment request by email, the registration fee is due immediately, the balance must be received by 1 March 2024. You will receive confirmation of payment for the total amount at the end of the course.

If you do not take up your place, you will be entitled to a refund of € 300.00 of the registration fee if you cancel your registration by 1 March of the respective course year; if you cancel your registration later, you will not be entitled to a refund.