Society News
Certificate of Knowledge in Travel Medicine Examination Update
The ISTM exam committee met in Atlanta in late may to write, rewrite and discuss questions to include on the exam. The Committee felt it was time to bring the membership up-to-date and to try to allay any fears or misunderstandings about the exam. Several questions have already been voiced.
If the exam will only cover "basic" issues, why should I bother taking it?
"Basic" should not be interpreted as "easy". The questions range from easy to difficult and from straight-forward recall to synthesis of ones knowledge in challenging ways. The exam will not cover cutting edge issues for which an answer would be controversial; therefore cramming the latest abstracts from CISTM or articles published in JTM is not likely to help.
What should I study to pass the exam?
Everyone should familiarize themselves with the published "body of knowledge", which is available on the ISTM web-site and was published recently in JTM. Everyone should also study at least a standard textbook of travel medicine. It will probably help to be experienced in travel medicine because a working knowledge of common tourist and business destinations and risks associated with them will be helpful. Being familiar with authoritative booklets from sources such as WHO and national authoritative bodies will likely be helpful.
If I do not practice tropical medicine, will I be able to pass?
The content of the exam will be limited to preventative travel medicine, patient self-therapy, and triaging post travel illness. The content is that which should be known by a nurse or physician practicing travel medicine and does include a basic understanding of the diseases listed in the body of knowledge. However, a physician-level work-up of clinical problems and management of patients when they are hospitalized are not included on the exam. This is not an exam in "tropical medicine".
If I have already taken or plan to take an exam for certification in travel medicine in my country, why should I bother to take the ISTM exam?
First, the ISTM exam is not a certifying exam. You will receive a certificate of knowledge, but the ISTM exam will in no way legally certify you to practice with this knowledge. As such the ISTM exam could be viewed as supplementing any national certifying exam. Passing the ISTM exam should help distinguish one practitioner from another in that those who pass the exam will have this fact emphasized in the ISTM clinic directory.
We hope that discussing these questions has helped. The exam committee intends to continue to keep you informed. If you have specific questions, please do not hesitate to ask one of the exam committee members who will be delighted to help you understand the process. Also, our ISTM web site has a feature on the exam and this will become much more informative as we get closer to the New York meeting. The exam will be given the day before the meeting.
For the Exam Committee
Charles D. Ericsson, MD
Exam Committee Member
The Certificate of Knowledge Examination will be administered at the Marriott Marquis hotel in New York on Wednesday, May 7, 2003. The Hotel is also the site of the 8th CISTM meeting. The exam is open to all licensed travel medicine practitioners including nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and physician's assistants. Both ISTM members and non-members are eligible to participate.
