At Desert Mountain Medicine, we strive to make decisions and connect with our students and the larger communities we’re a part of in ways that support the cultivation of a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just world for all people, especially those connected to outdoor recreation and education. The following initiatives speak to our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
DMM + Conservation Corps Partner Provider Program
We formed a partnership with the Arizona Conservation Corps (formally known as: Coconino Rural Environmental Corps) in 2009 to train their staff to teach wilderness first aid in-house and ensure equity in education for all Corps members as part of their pre-season training. Today, we are proudly partnering with several Conservation Corps throughout the US to provide training:
High School Wild Med Initiative
A Wilderness First Aid (WFA) certification for every graduating high school senior in Colorado, earned through their school’s Health, Wellness, or Physical Education curriculum at no extra cost to students – that’s the goal of the High School Wild Med Initiative. To help achieve our goal, we’ve partnered with Colorado nonprofit Good Natured Learning to support Colorado educators in bringing WFA curriculum to their nature-based classrooms. To date, this initiative has reached 6 school districts across Colorado and Vermont.
Learn more about the High School Wild Med. Initiative and view courses.
Women’s Wild Med Program (WWMP)
The WWMP offers wilderness medicine courses for women, taught by women. We welcome all women and girls— transgender and cisgender—as well as non-binary people who identify with the women’s community. WWMP is about women empowering each other to go higher and further in the outdoors, while feeling safer and more confident.
Since establishing the program in 2019, we’ve proudly donated $6,000 in scholarships to eight WWMP participants.
Financial Aid & Scholarship Programs
- Fund a Wild Med Student
- 5280’ Scholarship: $5280 in scholarship money is allocated per year for under-resourced individuals within the Greater Denver Metro Area (5,280 feet in elevation)
- Payment Plans – We will work with individuals to create a payment plan that fits their budget
- Donations -We donate $2500 in gift certificates to various organizations every year
For more information about these financial aid and scholarship programs please email us at: [email protected]
Revising Materials to Remove Gendered Language
DMM is working to revise course materials to better honor non-binary gender identity, while still recognizing the importance of sex and anatomy from a medical perspective.