This spring, Dr. Andrew Cathers received notice that he passed the U.K.’s Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine (DRTM) exam. The diploma examination is held annually by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is designed to test the skills and knowledge of prehospital health care providers in caring for critically ill or injured patients who require resuscitation, stabilization, and safe transfer to a health care facility.
The examination focuses mainly on the retrieval of patients from one health care facility to another. Candidates who pass the exam are recognized as being competent in the assessment, management, triage and transfer of adult, pediatric, and neonatal patients with a range of illnesses and injuries, as well as having an understanding of retrieval coordination and a variety of land and air transport platforms.
“I’m honored to pass the Diploma in Retrieval and Transfer Medicine,” said Cathers. “I had a great experience, and I learned a lot studying for and taking the examination.”
Founded in 1505, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSE) is the oldest Surgical College in the world and includes 30,000 members in 100 countries. Credentialling from the RCSE is recognized by clinicians worldwide, where models of prehospital care are not homogeneous.
“The United Kingdom has one of the most developed clinician models for prehospital physicians in the world,” notes Cathers. “I’m interested in learning from our international partners and finding ways to build upon the already excellent clinical training we provide our Med Flight clinicians here at UW and UW Health.”
About Dr. Andrew Cathers
A native of Rhode Island, Dr. Cathers attended medical school at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Medical School emergency medicine residency program. He completed a fellowship in flight medicine with UW Health Med Flight at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, where he currently serves as Medical Director. He is also an assistant professor of emergency medicine in the BerbeeWalsh Department of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Cathers holds board certification in both emergency medicine and EMS from the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is a Fellow of the Air Medical Physician Association (FAMPA). He has published papers and presented educational sessions locally, nationally, and internationally, including serving as an instructor at the prestigious UK Anesthesia, Trauma, and Critical Care (ATACC) Course. His educational interests include resident training, continuing education of attending physicians, advanced retrieval medicine, and airway management.