ISTM News
Certificate of Travel Health (CTH) Examination
The ISTM urges you to consider sitting for the CTH examination.
The ISTM Certificate Exam will be administered next year just prior to the CISTM meeting on Sunday, May 20, in Vancouver. Materials are currently posted on the ISTM website that should assist everyone interested in sitting for the exam. In addition, there will be two short preparatory courses for the exam given in February, 2007 (www.istm.org).
The CTH program purposes are to:
- Establish internationally recognized standards of knowledge for travel medicine practitioners
- Assess the level of knowledge demonstrated by travel medicine practitioners in a valid and reliable manner
- Encourage professional development in the field of travel medicine
- Formally recognize individuals who meet the requirements set by ISTM
- Serve the public by encouraging quality travel medicine practice services, and
- Demonstrate the global validity of epidemiological data and preventive strategies
Already, 475 travel health professionals have earned the CTH credential. A survey performed in Lisbon showed that those who have the credential already feel the benefits: 1. international recognition of expertise, 2. professional development, and 3. enhanced professional credibility. Some feel that it has also assisted in patient referrals and promotion of their travel clinics.
There have been a number of inquiries from time to time regarding translation of the exam into other languages for the benefit of travel medicine practitioners who are not proficient in English. ISTM as an international society has taken these inquiries very seriously and has looked into the possibility of offering the exam in other languages. The steps needed to be followed are quite complex and involve to and fro translation of the exam into another language with comparative analyses. All exam materials including the body of knowledge would need to be available in that language. A small subcommittee of travel medicine experts who are native speakers, who have taken the exam, and who would also be fluent in English would be required to go over the accuracy of the translation and then after the exam, review questions that did not perform similarly to the English version. Queries would need to be answered, scores transmitted and results provided in the other language and a completely separate grievance committee of native speakers would also need to be formed.
ISTM is run on volunteer efforts and it has been felt that exam administration in another language would not be possible at this stage. The CTH exam will continue to be offered only in English at this time.
If there are questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Committee at exam@istm.org.
Phyllis E. Kozarsky, MD Chair
ISTM Research Grant Competition
Research grant applications are now being accepted by the ISTM Research Committee. The Deadline for grant applications is 31 March 2007. A
copy of the application is available at www.istm.org under the Research Grants tab on the left side of the ISTM Home Page. Ideally the application should
be submitted by email to the Chair of the Research Committee (amccarthy@ottawahospital.
on.ca).
The ISTM Research Committee fosters research in travel medicine, in keeping with the mission and goals of the society, including the promotion of international collaboration. The committee provides moderate grants ($1,000 - $10,000) through a peer-reviewed comprehensive process. These grants are designed to stimulate travel medicine research by supporting comprehensive research projects or, for larger projects, providing support for pilot studies to enable researchers to collect data/test hypotheses so that they can then apply to other agencies for more substantive research grants.
Requirements of Applications:
- Research must be travel medicine-oriented.
- One of the investigators must be an active ISTM member.
- Application and protocol proposal must be scientifically sound and must be in accordance with international ethical guidelines.
- There must be no conflicts of interest for any of the investigators who apply for research funding.
Grant applications will be accepted until 31 March 2007. Grants will be awarded at CISTM10 in Vancouver in May 2007.
Anne McCarthy
Chair, Research Committee
Practice and Nursing Issues (PNI) Committee
Getting Ready for CISTM-10 Vancouver May 2006
- Nursing CE (Contact Hours). An application has been submitted to the Georgia Nurses Association for approval of 21 contact hours. Nurses requiring proof of CE for attendance will be provided with instructions, evaluation packets and certificates of attendance on-site during the conference. There is no need to sign up for CE in advance. Please contact Lisa Astorga, CISTM 10 Conference Secretariat at 856-423-7222 ext 217 for more information.
- Nursing Welcome Reception. Sunday May 20th, Vancouver. All nurses attending the Conference are invited to the Nursing Welcome Reception to take place in the mid-late afternoon before the CISTM 10 opening ceremony/reception. The time and location (central to the conference venue) will be announced in the near future. Meet and greet nurse colleagues and listen to some brief presentations from nurses worldwide. Refreshments will be served.
Expert Opinion in Travel Medicine-Nurse Author: Practice Issues.
ISTM nurse member, Gail Rosselot NP, authored the most recent ISTM Expert Opinion of the ISTM Education and Training Committee.
Case #4 Vaccine Administration Quality Measures. This is an excellent, well-organized review of some of the most critical issues in vaccine administration and travel clinic practice including a very useful resource list. All expert opinions are archived on the ISTM website (www.istm.org) under the Education and Training tab.
Please keep in touch with us. The committee's main charge is to address issues of interest and concern to nurse members and enhance collaboration. We look forward to hearing from you.
Rebecca Acosta (USA)
rwacosta@travelersmedical.com
Jane Chiodini (UK)
janechiodini@btinternet.com
Travel grants for attending CISTM10
The ISTM Host-Country Committee is pleased to announce the availability of up to 6 travel grants of $1,500 each for individuals who are current residents of developing countries in order to present an abstract at CISTM10 in Vancouver in May.
Criteria for selection in the competition are:
1) Financial need
2) Abstract accepted as poster or oral presentation for CISTM10
3) Demonstrated commitment to travel medicine currently and in the future
4) Potential for the support to be leveraged into the growth of travel medicine in the home country.
Scientific Abstracts must be submitted in the usual way with all other abstracts on the CISTM10 website by the usual deadline date of January 15, 2007
A separate defined application form for the Travel Awards will be available on the CISTM10 website by mid-January.
ISTM Secretariat
