We recently returned from attending the 16th Congress of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM).  This is the biggest and most prestigious gathering of Travel Medicine specialists and is held every two years in different parts of the world. This year it was in Washington DC.

Dr. Carroll was an invited speaker at the conference, giving an update on the diagnosis and treatment of malaria in pregnancy. His talk was very well received and there were many positive comments from attendees from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health and various universities.

Following the lecture he was asked to videotape an interview which will soon be available on the ISTM web site (www.istm.org). This was a fun reminiscence of his many years with the organization and his contributions to it.

It was a busy time, filled with meeting new friends and re-establishing old relationships but there was a lot of work involved as well.  Dr. Carroll serves on two committees associated with travel medicine and took time, as well, to meet with his co-author on a text book chapter that they are writing.

The main take-home point of the meeting is that, as international travel of all sorts becomes increasingly common it is more and more important that there be properly qualified specialists to take care of the unique health issues involved. And even more relevant is the increasing dependence on telemedicine and the ability to meet out patients’ needs over the internet…something that we at The Pregnant Traveler have now been doing for over twenty years!

Happy travels…until next time!