Student & Young Professional
Student & Young Professional
Youth engagement at the post-secondary level is minimal in the development of disaster and emergency medicine knowledge. Many graduate programs often require or prefer individuals to be working professionals in the field of humanitarian health care when they apply. To address the learning gap for post-secondary students, the WADEM Student and Young Professional Special Interest Group (SYP-SIG) strives to provide an open platform, resources, informational webinars, and workshops for individuals interested in or looking to begin a career in disaster and emergency medicine.
Please reach out to us for further information on joining the SIG or creating a group at your institution – students@wadem.org.
Join the SIG Distribution List
Check Out the SYP-SIG’s Presentations & Discussions
Leadership in Humanitarian Medicine: Field Experiences, Ethical Challenges, and Lesson Learned
Webinar Date: 15 October 2026
Leadership in Humanitarian Medicine:
In this presentation, Dr. Sharon Shaul discusses lessons she has learned about working with and integrating into international and local teams during crises.
Dr. Shaul is an emergency medicine physician and head of the Medical Sector of NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief. She has deployed to numerous disasters across the globe, including the recent flood in Nepal.
Welcome to the Hot Zone: An Introduction to Hazardous Materials Response
Webinar Date: 18 June 2026
Welcome to the Hot Zone: An Introduction to Hazardous Materials Response
In this presentation, Dr. Mel Ebeling discusses the various classes of hazardous materials, how to identify them, how to protect against them, and how to decontaminate and respond to an exposure.
Racing Disasters
Webinar Date: 27 October 2025
Racing Disasters
This presentation features Dr. Ryan Stanton (AMR/NASCAR), Dr. Leonard Edwards (AMR/IMSA), and Dr. Julia Vaizer (INDYCAR) discussing motorsports medicine and the mass gathering and medical planning involved for races, which can attract hundreds of thousands of spectators.
- Dr. Edwards is an emergency physician in San Antonio, TX, and the medical director for the International Motor Sports Association- AMR Track Services Team. He is a graduate of the Motorsports Medicine Fellowship at Indiana University and completed emergency medicine residency at Henry Ford Health System after medical school at UT Austin.
- Dr. Vaizer is an emergency physician in Indiana and the medical director for IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She is a graduate of the Motorsports Medicine Fellowship at Indiana University and completed emergency medicine residency at Detroit Receiving Hospital after medical school at the University of Central Florida.
- Dr. Stanton is an emergency physician in Kentucky and the medical director for the AMR/NASCAR safety team. He is also the President-Elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians. He completed emergency medicine residency training at the University of Kentucky after medical school at the Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University.
Presentation Slides (Dr. Julia Vaizer)
Presentation Slides (Dr. Ryan Stanton)
Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness & Response
Webinar Date: 18 August 2025
Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness & Response
Prof. Jeff Schlegelmilch (Associate Professor & Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Columbia University Climate School) and Dr. Cecilia Sorensen (Emergency Physician & Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education at Columbia University) discuss the intersection of climate change with disaster preparedness and response.
Presentation Slides (Sorenson)
Presentation Slides (Schlegelmilch)
Infectious Diseases and Disasters
Webinar Date: 21 October 2024
Infectious Diseases and Disasters
Dr. Vijai Bhola from Emory University discusses how infectious diseases thrive in disasters! The presentation outlines factors that create complex humanitarian disasters, examines common infectious diseases that follow disasters and the expected timeline for these outbreaks, and explores how climate change influences the risk of infectious disease outbreaks.
Are Lessons Ever Learned? Reflections on Pandemics Past, Present, and Future
Webinar Date: 24 April 2024
Are Lessons Ever Learned? Reflections on Pandemics Past, Present, and Future - Dr. Peter Marghella
This presentation includes a discussion of the five factors influencing an increase in the frequency, scope, scale, and impact of pandemics (and other major disasters). Also discussed are initiatives that may enhance our collective “posture of preparedness" for the health care and public health sectors.
Crisis Communications
In this presentation, Dr. Jay Mcisaac discusses the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resources for Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications (CERC), covering the four phases of a crisis and exploring the six principles of CERC.
Pediatric Disaster Preparedness
Dr. Mark Cicero from Yale University presents - "It Will Happen Again: Pediatric Disaster Preparedness and Response." This lecture was organized by the Student and Young Professionals SIG in May 2023.
Learning objectives from this lecture include:
- Understand similarities and differences between pediatric and adult disaster readiness;
- Consider scene stabilization, triage, treatment on scene, and transport decisions for natural and human-caused disasters; and
- Discuss means for EMS and Hospital disaster training and systems testing.
Evidence-Based Approaches for Assessment of Targeted Violence Risk
In this presentation, Dr. Victoria Balenger discusses targeted violence in school, workplace, and health care settings and describes the interdisciplinary process of Threat Assessment and Management (TAM), highlighting the use of validated Structured Professional Judgment (SPJ) instruments to help systematize individual case investigations and wider prevention efforts.
Dr. Balenger a retired FBI Psychologist, a Certified Threat Manager through the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP), and a credentialed Insider Threat Professional through the US Department of Defense (DoD). She is an expert in behavioral analysis and has supported individual threat assessment investigations, behavioral assessment teams, and insider threat programs during her career.
Disaster Medicine Summer School (3-5 July 2026)
Conceived and organized by the SYP-SIG, Disaster Medicine Summer School brought subject matter experts, academics, and participants from more than 25 countries for three intensive and inspiring days exploring the breadth and depth of disaster and emergency medicine.
Participants representing human and veterinary medicine, nursing, prehospital care, paramedicine, and public health engaged with expert-led lectures on topics including operations, leadership, tactical and counter-terrorism medicine, One Health, and CBRNe. These activities were reinforced with multidisciplinary discussions, tabletop exercises, and live emergency training sessions designed to strengthen preparedness for the complex emergencies of today and tomorrow. Students were taught methods of engaging in scholarly work and beyond the curriculum; the event fostered meaningful international connections, mentorship, and a shared commitment to evidence-based practice and global collaboration.
WADEM conveys its deepest appreciation to the partners who helped make the Disaster Medicine Summer School possible:
- The European Centre for Disaster Medicine (CEMEC) and its president, Dr. Roberto Mugavero, for graciously hosting and contributing to this initiative.
- The Republic of San Marino and its community and local partners (San Marino Red Cross, University of San Marino, Protezione Civile San Marino, and many more).
- Counter-Terrorism Medicine Europe (CTM-E) and CTM-E founder and board member, George Tataru.
Disaster Medicine is an emerging and evolving discipline. The inaugural Disaster Medicine Summer School has taken an important step toward developing the next generation of leaders.
Student and Young Professional SIG Leadership
Vision and Objectives
Vision: The vision of SYP-SIG is to bring together interested students and young professionals from around the world to strengthen their knowledge and skillset in disaster and emergency medicine and foster SYP-SIG chapters at institutions with resources and support for capacity building and greater youth engagement.
Objectives: The objectives of the SYP-SIG are to:
- Provide a platform for interdisciplinary networking among students and young professionals interested in this field;
- Facilitate communication links between student and young professional perspectives and voices internal and external to WADEM's leadership;
- Develop leadership to champion WADEM and the student activities to the student community globally/locally; and
- Receive feedback and make recommendations to WADEM on the development and implementation of student initiatives
