Orizaba – Mountain Medicine CME
Jan. 9th – 17th, 2027

Climb Pico de Orizaba (Citlaltépetl) — the highest peak in Mexico — while earning CME in the exact place wilderness medicine is meant to live: cold, altitude, and real expedition decision-making. At 5,636m / 18,491 ft, this volcano is a true high-altitude classroom, where every step up demands smart pacing, solid systems, and strong teamwork.

This course is built around a gradual ascent through changing terrain, hands-on skills, and focused medical education at camps and in the field. You’ll move from Mexico City to the mountain base, build acclimatization intentionally, and then attempt a glaciated summit push in the early hours — the kind of effort that turns a group into a team.

It’s not a packaged holiday. It’s a mountain medicine adventure with real exposure, real learning, and a summit that has to be earned.

If you’ve been wanting CME that feels less like a conference — and more like a real summit-driven expedition — this is it.

This course is designed for individuals who want to learn wilderness and mountain medicine in a real high-altitude expedition environment, while participating in a challenging and rewarding ascent of Pico de Orizaba.

This is a small, close-knit group experience built around shared challenge, mutual respect, and teamwork. Participants come from diverse backgrounds but are united by curiosity, motivation, and a willingness to support one another. If you value camaraderie, collaboration, and learning alongside like-minded people, you’ll feel right at home.

This is not a typical classroom — it’s mountain medicine learning at altitude.

Over nine days on Pico de Orizaba, you’ll move deliberately higher into thinner air, colder mornings, and steeper terrain, learning wilderness medicine exactly where it matters most. Days are built around acclimatization, movement, and education, and nights are spent sharing meals, stories, and the quiet satisfaction that comes from earning each step upward together.

There’s something uniquely powerful about climbing a true glaciated volcano while learning expedition medicine along the way. As summit day approaches, the mountain strips things down to what matters: clear thinking, teamwork, and sound decision-making. Crampons on frozen snow, headlamps cutting through the dark, and sunrise spilling across the summit cone — it’s an experience that stays with you long after you’ve come back down.

This course is intentionally taught in the field, not behind a desk. Medical education unfolds at camps, during acclimatization hikes, and alongside real expedition challenges. Topics like altitude illness, cold injury, trauma, and evacuation planning make more sense when you’re feeling the altitude, managing layers, and solving problems as a team in a remote environment.

This rhythm is designed to keep the experience challenging but sustainable, allowing both learning and recovery as the mountain gradually reveals what you’re capable of.

Yes, you’ll earn CME — but you’ll also gain:

Most people finish this trip amazed that something so challenging, meaningful, and unforgettable – is CME.

9 Days / 8 Nights
Mexico City Tlachichuca Pico de Orizaba Mexico City

This expedition blends gradual acclimatization, hands-on mountain medicine education, and a summit attempt of Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico.

Mexico City

Mexico City Tlachichuca

Tlachichuca Orizaba Basecamp High Camp

High Camp Summit Tlachichuca

Tlachichuca Mexico City

Participants are responsible for booking their own flights. Ground transportation during the expedition is provided once the course begins.

Delegates should be vaccinated appropriately. Please refer to CDC recommendations for travel to Mexico and consult your healthcare provider prior to departure.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/mexico?s_cid=ncezid-dgmq-travel-leftnav-traveler

Trip preparation resources:

After completing this course, participants will be able to assess, treat, and manage illness and injury in remote, high-altitude, and austere mountain environments.

    •    ACCME Statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the Wilderness Medical Society and Wild Med Adventures, LLC. The Wilderness Medical Society is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

    •    The Wilderness Medical Society designates this educational activity for a maximum of 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Each physician should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

    •    All educational content presented in this activity has been reviewed and validated as appropriate in keeping with sound scientific principles.

Dr. Jessica Vittorelli, MD
Dr. Rob Casserley, MD

Educational instruction is provided by the Wild Med Adventures faculty, who are responsible solely for the medical education and CME components of this course.

All mountain logistics, guiding, and on-mountain leadership are provided by Orizaba Mountain Guides, an experienced local guiding operation. Wild Med Adventures faculty are not mountain guides and are not responsible for climbing decisions, route selection, weather assessment, or technical safety.

Instructors and faculty may change based on availability.

Full payment is due 90 days prior to the course start date.
A $500 late fee will be added for payments received after this deadline, or your spot may be forfeited.

Participants must carry appropriate medical and rescue coverage for remote and high-altitude environments.

Trip insurance is strongly recommended to cover delays, missed flights, weather interruptions, or trip disruption. Rescue insurance is required, and we recommend Global Rescue or an equivalent provider.

Participation in this expedition involves high-altitude mountaineering and travel in remote and austere environments in Mexico. Activities may include steep snow and ice travel, glacier movement, cold exposure, altitude illness, prolonged physical exertion, limited access to medical facilities, and rapidly changing weather and environmental conditions. Such activities inherently involve risk, including but not limited to personal injury, illness, altitude-related medical emergencies, falls, equipment failure, evacuation delays, travel disruption, and, in rare cases, death.

Participants are solely responsible for their own actions, decisions, and conduct at all times during the expedition.

Wild Med Adventures faculty provide medical education and CME instruction only. They do not provide mountaineering instruction, guiding services, or safety oversight related to climbing activities. All mountain logistics, route decisions, weather assessments, and on-mountain leadership are provided by Orizaba Mountain Guides. Wild Med Adventures and its faculty are not responsible for climbing conditions, terrain hazards, equipment use, or participant decision-making while on the mountain.

This expedition is physically demanding and takes place at high altitude in cold, remote environments. Participants are responsible for evaluating their own physical fitness, technical ability, and medical readiness prior to participation. Participation is not advised for individuals who are unable to tolerate strenuous activity, altitude exposure, cold conditions, or remote travel with limited access to definitive medical care.

Rescue and evacuation insurance covering high-altitude and remote environments is required for participation. Personal medical insurance valid for international travel is required. Trip insurance is strongly recommended to cover delays, missed connections, weather disruptions, illness, injury, or trip interruption. Participants are solely responsible for obtaining and maintaining appropriate insurance coverage.

Participants are responsible for securing all required travel documents, including passports, visas (if applicable), and entry requirements for Mexico. Visa and entry requirements vary by nationality and are subject to change. Wild Med Adventures is not responsible for denied entry or travel disruptions related to documentation issues.

By enrolling in and participating in this expedition, participants acknowledge and accept the inherent risks associated with high-altitude mountaineering, wilderness travel, and remote-area activities, and voluntarily assume full responsibility for their participation.