The Gorgas Memorial Institute courses were launched as a collaborative partnership between the UAB and the Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia to provide an intensive training experience in tropical medicine with significant exposure to real patients.

History of Gorgas Memorial Institute

US General William Crawford Gorgas, a tropical medicine pioneer and native Alabamian, is credited with the elimination of yellow fever and malaria that allowed the Panama Canal to be built. For over 60 years, until the loss of congressional funding in 1990, the Gorgas Memorial Institute (GMI) based in Washington, DC, operated the Gorgas Laboratories in Panama.

The Institute was incorporated to UAB in 1992 in order to carry on its tradition of research, service and training. At its 1995 Board of Directors meeting, the GMI approved resumption of its educational mission initially started in Panama by establishing the Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine as a clinical training initiative to be held in English in the tropics.

Training Opportunities

The Gorgas Memorial Institute has established two courses to address the educational gap for the international medical community seeking intensive experience in tropical medicine with a focus in clinical activities and substantial exposure to patients including:

• The Gorgas Diploma Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine
• The Advanced Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine.