Basic Course B/2026

Basic Courses at UMIT

In recent years, alpine and high altitude medicine has seen sustainable development. It is no longer just a few individuals who venture to the world’s highest mountains; due to the growing market for trekking offers, several hundred thousand people now visit mountain regions outside the Alps every year. In addition, European mountain tourism accounts for an estimated 5-10 million hikers and 500,000 climbers annually. It is therefore understandable that a new branch of medicine has inevitably developed over the last few decades. The introduction of the ÖÄK Diploma for Alpine and High Altitude Medicine represents a meaningful expansion of the services offered to physicians who wish to engage intensively with all aspects of alpine and high altitude medicine. Through the generated clinical-interdisciplinary expertise and practical implementation with the alpine sports courses offered in the new ÖÄK Diploma, the medical consulting competence of physicians is to be improved and their high-altitude medical diagnostic and therapeutic skills trained so that they can be applied in everyday clinical practice.

Details regarding the diploma can be found here:
www.arztakademie.at/alpinmedizin

The target group includes general practitioners, specialists from all medical fields, and licensed physicians. A prerequisite for earning creditable continuing education hours for the ÖÄK Diploma is a medical degree (promotion).

Please note that if remaining places are available, the basic courses can also be completed by non-Austrian physicians.

Medical students may participate in the basic courses at a reduced price if there are remaining places available.

As part of the UMIT Academy, the four basic courses of the ÖÄK Diploma A – D are conducted under the professional leadership of the Austrian Society for Alpine and High Altitude Medicine (ÖGAHM). The scientific director of the basic courses and the person responsible for the diploma at the Austrian Medical Chamber is Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schobersberger, Institute for Sports, Alpine Medicine & Health Tourism (ISAG; UMIT). Ms. Alexandra Peskoller, UMIT, is responsible for administrative matters.

Basic courses A and B (each consisting of 13 teaching units of 45 minutes) focus on high-altitude physiology – internal medicine – pediatrics; basic courses C and D (each consisting of 13 teaching units of 45 minutes) are dedicated to alpine medical orthopedics/traumatology – emergency medicine – avalanche medicine.

All basic courses are approved by the Austrian Medical Chamber with continuing education hours for general medicine and sports medicine.