The Fellowship program (Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine™ or FAWM) offers a means to identify those who have fulfilled a demanding set of requirements validating their training and experience in wilderness medicine. Society members enroll in the Academy and, by completing lessons from a pre-established Wilderness Medicine curriculum as well as receiving credit for specific identifiable experience, accumulate credit toward becoming a Fellow. Any current member of the WMS who successfully completes the requirements will have the distinction of being a registered member of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine and entitled to use the designation Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) and may reference it on resumes, business cards, and advertisements.

The program is designed to provide a combination of learning and demonstration of the advanced practice of wilderness medicine through experience, teaching, scholarly activity, and leadership. A broad understanding of wilderness medicine is required therefore candidates are expected to obtain required and elective credits in each of the defined subject areas.

FAWM Brochure

How It Works
First, you must be an active Member of the WMS (permissions refresh nightly so you might have to wait a day before proceeding to the next step). Then you process the FAWM candidacy application and pay the application fee ($225).  Once you're a candidate, you can begin claiming and accumulating credits.

If you are not a WMS member, and received FAWM information at an eligible event , then you can receive credit for that event by joining the WMS and applying to the Academy within 120 days of the event. To complete the program and become a Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, a candidate must accumulate a minimum number of credits as described in the following table.

 

  Required credits for candidates attending 1 WMS conference   Required credits for candidates attending 2+ WMS conferences
 Core Credits  50-70  45-70
 Elective Credits 5-15 5-15 
 Experience Credits 20-40  20-40
 Total 100   95

 

 Core and elective credits must come from approved, credit-scored activities. Candidates must complete a minimum of 45 to a maximum of 70 credits from the list of "core" topics and earn a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 15 credits from the "elective" topics per the above table.

Additionally, each candidate must document between 20 and 40 experience credits in the Experience Report. The report breaks experience into the following categories: 

1. Professional Certification, Education, and Training
2. Military Training
3. Wilderness Medicine Related Publishing and Research
4. Wilderness Medicine Related Editorial Responsibilities
5. Wilderness Medicine Related Teaching and Mentoring
6. Public Service in Wilderness-centric Medical Services and Deployments
7. Wilderness Medicine Related Awards
8. Service to WMS

Accummulating Credits
Accounting for a candidate's accumulating credits is accomplished according to the following repeating sequence: Verification by WMS of the candidate's attendance at an approved, scored activity (see Eligible Activities tab above). Online designation of attended sessions related to each activity by the candidate. Online completion and editing of Experience Report information by the candidate. Review of candidate’s status reports by WMS (see Status tab above).
Retroactive Credits
Candidates meeting initial criteria or candidates who did not complete their FAWM within five years who wish to apply again, may request that previously completed educational events be applied toward their FAWM credits. There is an additional $25 (USD) retroactive fee associated with this service. To be eligible for credit, educational activities must meet the following criteria:
• Be on the online list of Eligible Activities
• Must have been completed by the FAWM candidate within five years of beginning or renewing one’s candidacy

Retroactive Fee

Limitations and Other Requirements
• Credits for review of Journal articles are limited to a maximum of 12.
• Credits claimed from Non-WMS activities (not offered directly by WMS) are limited to a maximum of 28.
• Candidates must attend at least one live WMS activity.
• Credits in the status report are allocated in the following order: WMS Credits, Journal article credits and Non-WMS Credits.
• Student membership category is eligible to begin the candidacy and accumulate credits but not eligible to complete the requirements (see prerequisites below).
• Candidates must submit their report for review no later than 90 days prior to their candidacy expiration to allow three months for review and questions.
• Candidates FAWM report must be completed, reviewed and approved by June 1 to be awarded at the summer conference. (If approved after June 1, the award will take place the following year).
Prerequisites
In addition to accumulating the necessary credits, awarding of the Fellowship requires:
•Completion of an initial qualifying, credentialing, or vocational degree-producing program in any recognized medical discipline or vocation (MD, DO, PA, RN, NP, EMT, Pharm. D, ND, RD, PT, Affiliate degree). Others may be considered on an individual basis.
•Completion of at least one year of professional practice in the medical vocation or discipline after completion of an initial qualifying program or school.