Doctors go on wilderness expeditions for two broad reasons—either because the need arises out of their own personal desires to explore and go remote or because they are employed to be a doctor on an expedition. A linked activity, but slightly different, is long-term work in the poorer countries of the developing world, often under the auspices of a charity or NGO. Recent years have seen a huge increase in opportunities for doctors to be involved in any of these activities, especially the first two. The world is a small place these days.

Practising medicine in remote and extreme environments (the two do …