About ISTM

For 20 years, ISTM has been at the forefront of the travel medicine community promoting safe and healthy travel on every continent. With more than 2,500 members in 75

countries, it is the largest organization of professionals dedicated to the advancement of the specialty of travel medicine.

In cooperation with health care providers, academic centers, the travel industry and the media, ISTM advocates and facilitates education, communications, service and research activities in the field of travel medicine. This includes preventative and curative medicine within many specialties such as tropical medicine, infec-tious diseases, high-altitude physiology, travel-related obstetrics, psychiatry, occupational health, military, migration medicine and environmental health.

Members include physicians, nurses and other health professionals from academia, government and the private sector.

Specific goals are to: ✓ Educate health care professionals, public health profession-

als, and the travel industry

✓ Provide scientific focus for travel medicine

✓ Stimulate the professional advancement of travel medicine practice

✓ Promote distribution of rapid information exchange related to travel medicine issues

✓ Facilitate international contacts between practitioners of travel medicine

✓ Promote travel health

✓ Develop guidelines for travel medicine practice

✓ Foster research in travel medicine including the promotion of international studies

International Society of Travel Medicine20 years of promoting healthy travel worldwide

1991-2011

International Society of Travel Medicine

Certificate in Travel Health™ and the ISTM Travel Medicine Continuing

Professional Development ProgramISTM Announces a New Travel Medicine Continuing Professional Development Program!

As with most healthcare disciplines, the practice of travel medicine is a changing and evolving field. In recognition of the critical need for travel medicine practitioners to maintain

and increase their skills and knowledge, the ISTM is introducing a continuing professional development program for travel medicine practitioners. The program will be structured around a 10-year cycle of professional education, study and involvement in the field of travel medicine. Activities which comprise this program include, but are not limited to: educational programs and products, writing, editing and reviewing publications, teaching, research, clinical work and other professional development in which travel medicine practitioners participate.

The first step of this process is passing the CTH® examination. Beginning with the CTH® Certificates awarded in 2011, there will be a mandatory maintenance process every ten (10) years to keep the certificate active. There will be two avenues for maintaining an active CTH® – either accruing a specific number of credits through the professional development activities in which most travel medicine professionals already participate or retaking and passing the CTH® examination. The program becomes effective in 2011. Travel medicine professionals who were awarded certificates prior to 2011 are encouraged to consider participating on a voluntary and not mandatory basis.

The ISTM Travel Medicine Continuing Professional Development Program will provide greater confidence to the public and patients we treat, and enable the CTH® holders demonstrate to compli-ance authorities that the credential is relevant. Additionally, these activities will enhance and elevate the practice of travel medicine around the world.

More information about the requirements for the ISTM Travel Medicine Continuous Professional Development Program will be posted as available on the ISTM website at www.ISTM.org.

ISTM SecretariatTelephone: +1-404-373-8282 | Telefax: +1-404-373-8283

Email: ISTM@ISTM.org | Skype: ISTM.office

What is the ISTM Certificate of Knowledge?It is the first international certificate devoted solely to travel health. The Certificate of Knowledge was developed by an international panel of travel health experts representing a variety of professional disciplines, including medicine and nursing.

The Certificate recognizes professionals who have demonstrated expertise in the unique body of knowledge associated with pre-travel care and consultation. It is awarded to those individuals who are eligible and pass the Certificate of Knowledge exam.

The Certificate is a symbol of your achievement in the field – proof of your commitment to excellence. Professionals passing the exam will be granted the designation, “Certificate in Travel Health™” or “CTH®.” ISTM members who receive the certificate will also be recognized in the ISTM Directory of Travel Medicine Providers.

Who is Eligible to Take the Exam?The ISTM welcomes applications from all qualified professionals who provide travel medicine-related services on a full- or part-time basis. The exam is open to all licensed travel medicine profes-sionals, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists and others. Both ISTM members and non-members are eligible to participate.

What Topics are Covered on the Exam?•The 200-multiple choice exam is designed to reflect the reality

of day-to-day pre-travel practice. It covers six key areas:

•Epidemiology of travel-related problems

�Common and important diseases acquired during travel and their prevention

�Other conditions associated with travel

•Pre-travel consultation and management

•Products used in travel medicine

�Vaccines

�Drugs

�Other

•Preventive strategies (where there is global consensus)

•Appropriate post-travel triage

•General travel health issues

Great care has been taken to develop exam questions that are appropriate for professionals from different geographic regions and professional disciplines. The same exam will be taken by all practitioners and will be administered in English.

ISTM Travel Medicine Continuing Professional Development Program

How Do I Prepare for the Exam?The ISTM Travel Medicine Body of Knowledge, upon which the exam is based, has been published on the ISTM website at www.ISTM.org for review purposes. Sample questions are avail-able on the website to provide candidates with an idea of the types of questions that will appear on the exam. Various travel medicine courses, conferences and online modules are also listed on the website as a means of review.

Why is the ISTM Developing a Travel Medicine Continuing Professional Development Program?The practice of travel medicine is an ever changing environment. To keep current with recent developments, along with new treat-ments and new challenges, travel medicine professionals must take active steps to remain current in their knowledge and practices. The new ISTM Program will now reward those practitioners who participate in activities to keep up to date with the most recent developments in the field. This process will provide greater con-fidence to the public and patients we treat, and enable the CTH®

holders demonstrate to compliance authorities that the credential is relevant. Additionally, these activities will enhance and elevate the practice of travel medicine around the world.

What Happens in 10 Years?There are two options to maintain an active CTH®:

1. Earning a specific number of credits through the profes-sional development activities in which most travel medicine practitioners already participate. The following activities will be included in this option:

•Educational Events

� In-Person: Local, State, Regional, National, International in-cluding Conferences, Courses, Lectures, and Short Courses

�Distance Learning Interactive Webinars and Webcasts

�Enduring Materials within Peer-reviewed Journals or Online

•Completing Academic Coursework within Schools of Higher Learning

•Treating Patients/Practicing Travel Medicine

•Teaching, Lecturing, Speaking, including Invited Confer-ences, University Lecturing, Internal Teaching (e.g. Grand Rounds), Presenting Posters

•Publishing, including Authoring, Peer-reviewing, and Serving on an Editorial Board

•Committee/Volunteer Activities, including serving as a Vol-unteer or Committee Member with a Travel Medicine Society or in a Travel Medicine Related Activity in a Non-Travel Medicine Society

•Clinical Supervision of Health Care Professionals and/or Students and Trainees

•Peer Review/Practice Audits

•Serving as a Subject Matter Expert, including Expert Wit-nesses, Governmental & Supragovernmental Advisory Com-mittees (National, Regional, Local, International), Consulting Activities

2. The second option is to retake the CTH® Examination

How Can I Get More Information? For more information, go to the ISTM website at www.ISTM.org to obtain a Candidate Bulletin of Information available prior to each scheduled exam. It includes:•the date and location of the upcoming exam

•the cost of the exam

•test administration procedures

•a description of how the exam was developed

•sample questions to familiarize yourself with the types of ques-tions that will appear on the exam

•details about the full Travel Medicine Continuing Professional Development Program

The ISTM Certificate in Travel Health™ and the ISTM Travel Medicine Continuing Professional Devel-opment Program is voluntary and not meant to limit or restrict, in any way, the professional activities of travel medicine practi-tioners. Nor is the cer-tificate intended to be a substitute or replace-ment for credentials of-fered by national socie-ties, other organizations, or government agencies.