Photo: Connor Nowak
Thirty-three runners and 50 volunteer administrators readied canoes and laced up their sneakers earlier this month to tackle simulated medical emergencies throughout a 13-mile course in Douglas State Park. Decades old and held in locations all over the United States, the Medical Wilderness Adventure Race (MedWAR) is designed for medical students, residents, EMTs, paramedics, nurses and other medical professionals to practice disaster scenarios such as avalanche rescue or performing an emergency cricothyroidotomy for severe burns of the upper airway.
Anna Cichon, a third-year medical student in the Population-based Urban and Rural Community Health (PURCH) track, is one of this year’s organizers and speaks strongly about the benefits of wilderness medicine training.
“Medicine encompasses patient interaction and thinking outside the box to find solutions to problems,” said Cichon, a Ludlow local who studied biomedical engineering at Western New England University. “I grew up in the wilderness. I could be literally dropped anywhere with a backpack, and hopefully, with the skills I learned in wilderness medicine, stabilize anyone and get them to higher-level care.”
The course takes approximately five hours to complete and culminates with a cookout.
“Wilderness medicine lets you do medicine that’s immediately saving someone’s life or helping them get out of a really difficult situation—and it’s outdoors in the most exciting, raw element possible,” said fellow third-year medical student and organizer Avery Pullman, an aspiring emergency medicine doctor. “It makes your brain work in a very different way.”
Karishma Patel, a former EMT, has served for three years as a student director for the event, and said planning the course is educational and validating.
“If we’re able to understand complex pathophysiology and advanced procedures well enough to create scenarios that test these concepts for racers, we understand a lot,” Patel said.
The fourth-year medical student has matched in emergency medicine at Boston Medical Center and hopes to participate in MedWAR as a resident in 2026.
Photo: Connor Nowak
“Our races attract the best people you could meet: proctors who are experts in the fields of wilderness and emergency medicine; volunteers who love the outdoors; teams of racers that show exemplary sportsmanship, determination and skill; and our own mentors and co-directors who work together to bring this race to life. The friendships we make through this race will span careers and lifetimes,” Patel said.
Pullman and Cichon are serious about the inclusion of wilderness medicine in a medical professional’s educational toolkit. Pullman is one of the leaders of the wilderness medicine optional enrichment elective, and together, he and Cichon organized UMass Chan’s inaugural wilderness medicine conference. More than 130 people attended October’s event, with 18 speakers covering topics such as patient care during wildfires and practicing medicine in areas undergoing natural disasters.
