Pick your Speciality

Tropical Medicine

Q&A Professional Association

 What are the key points of specialist training?

 In general, all candidates are recommended to do Internal Medicine first. In addition:
3 years of specialised further training with

  • Diploma in tropical/travel medicine with at least 250 contact hours – also only according to the list of recognised courses
  • 6 months of travel medicine
  • In future 18 months abroad in the Global South at recognised training centres
  • Future EPA-based knowledge

How expensive is this specialist training?

It is an expensive speciality because: Courses to pay for, overseas posts not always paid for and often not paid for at all and fixed costs remain at home.
For this reason, the Specialist Society for Tropical and Travel Medicine invests CHF 10,000 in each candidate, which they only have to pay back if they do not complete the specialisation.

What further training options and specializations are there?

There are countless additional courses and offers worldwide – depending on where geographically and in terms of content you want to train. Within the speciality itself (tropical and travel medicine) in Switzerland, however, there are no further sub-specialities.

How can a stay abroad in this area be implemented or is it even necessary? (e.g. necessity of the USMLE)

See above. Stays abroad in countries with a different endemic situation (i.e. NOT North America) are mandatory.

How well can this specialty be combined with research (clinical research or basic research)?

Very good – but jobs and funding are difficult because there is often no big pharma money in these areas – unfortunately, of course…

How important is it to do research (e.g. to do an MD-PhD)?

Not essential.

How important is it for your starting job to gain an insight into this subject area during the elective year?

Find it very helpful to be exposed to this environment in the elective study year – the additional financial and administrative hurdles already select quite a few candidates here…

Q&A Physicians

Senior physician, F, 50 years old

How old are you?

50 y/o

Where did you study and when did you graduate?

Basel, 2001.

Do you have a doctorate?

Yes

When did you become a specialist?

  • Tropical Medicine: 2015
  • Infectiology: 2011
  • Internal Medicine: 2007

How long did your specialist training take?

  • Internal medicine: 5 years
  • Infectiology: additional 3 years
  • Tropical and travel medicine: additional 3 years

What is your current position (and background)?

Currently: Head of Infectiology at Inselspital Bern

How does your working week look like? 

No limits on working hours: 50-70 hours per week, depending on the week. Very varied with clinical duty weeks (70h weeks) followed by freely plannable weeks with own consultation hours and time for administrative projects or research (50h weeks). In duty weeks, 3x on-call duty overnight, but no on-call duty overnight in presence.

When and why did you choose this specialization?

Tropical and travel medicine: fascination and therefore a great desire to read and learn about infectious diseases of poverty and diseases of the global south.
Infectiology and tropical and travel medicine: general fascination for ‘critters’ – ambition to know the pathogens and treat them specifically according to the ‘nature’ of the respective pathogens (which is very fascinating, how unique and special each pathogen is!).

How would you describe your time as a resident?

Super interesting – strict – but fair and very instructive.

Is part-time work possible already during residency?

Yes – the training position in infectiology at Inselspital Bern is only possible at 80% by default.

What working modalities does your specialist title offer?

Tropical and travel medicine: primarily practice and research. Jobs in hospitals or institutes are very rare.
Infectiology: primarily in hospitals (but positions are very rare) – but practice is also very possible.

How competitive is it to complete this specialist title in Switzerland?

Tropical and travel medicine: very challenging to plan all the positions!
Infectiology: competitive!

How would you rate your work-life balance on a scale of 1-10? Would your colleagues with the same specialist title confirm this?

8

How easy is it to implement family planning in this field?

See above – you can have a family alongside.

What do you wish you had known before your specialist training?

Nothing.

Why should someone choose this specialty?

Tropical and travel medicine: only out of genuine enthusiasm, fascination, conviction and an eye for the global world. Everyone else quickly drops out because it becomes too tedious for them…
Infectiology: if you don’t want to treat an organ, but infectious diseases. These can potentially affect any organ.

What challenges await someone in this field?

Tropical and travel medicine: it takes many months in recognized places abroad. You have to organize yourself well and sometimes have to bite your teeth out with administrative hurdles for visas etc.

Is it necessary to write the master’s/doctoral thesis in this subject area?

No.

Is it possible to find an assistant doctor position in this specialty directly after the federal examination?

Internal medicine is almost compulsory for both additional specializations – and rightly so. You have to know internal medicine to be able to do both infectiology and tropical and travel medicine seriously. This means that internal medicine is not an annoying stopover, but an important specialization on which the others build. You never lose time when you learn something in another discipline!

What advice would you give to young medical students?

If you’re always thinking about work-life balance, then go into a job with clear 9-17 hour working hours. If you are not fascinated by the content of what you are learning, then look for another job – you will always compare and always be dissatisfied (others always earn more – others always work less…).

‘Comparison is the beginning of dissatisfaction’.