Get Away From Ward Rounds!

Have you, in the middle of an endless ward round wished you could do something far more exciting at work? Combining expedition work & clinical medicine is a possibilty for those who are willing to make the sacrifices. Here is the story of one doctor who managed such a career.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the British explorer is famous for his unsupported crossing of Antarctica. Less well-known is Dr Mike Stroud who accomapanied him. Together, they made the longest unsupported walk in history. Their epic journey involved dragging a 485 lbs sledge each across the Antarctic ice shelf consuming up to 10,000 calories a day (far more than the human intestinal tract is capable of absorbing!)

Prior to this, the pair of them made several attempts at reaching the North Pole from Arctic Canada & Siberia unsupported. In the process they broke a world-record & raised £2 million for charity.

It doesn't end there! He led the first UK team in the "Marathon of the Sands", a 7 day run across the Sahara. Recently in 2002, he made the first unsupported crossing of the Qatar dessert, covering 200km in 3 days!

In 2003, Sir Ranulph Fiennes suffered a heart attack, requiring an emergency bypass operation. 3 months after this, Dr Stroud, with a defibrillator packed, accompanied him as they ran seven Marathons in seven continents in seven days!! Not something most Cardiologists would recommend!

While on his expedition, Dr Stroud has managed to collect data for research, acting as his own guinea pig, collecting his own blood & urine samples. This data has contributed to our understanding of the human survival in extreme conditions & human endurance.

Dr Stroud has managed to achieve what many medics only dream of, an adventurous lifestlye, research & clinical work. Dr Stoud is currently a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Southampton Hospital.

I haven't had the chance to read his book, "Survival of the fittest" but I'm sure it'll make fascinating reading. I'm already inspired to do an expedition medicine course & you'll here more on this theme in the future!

Anybody out there with expediton medicine experience, please feel free to comment!