Aerie’s Signature Program: The Wilderness Medicine Semester
Step out of the classroom into a world of legendary exploration, epic training, and real-life learning.
An Aerie semester was made for college-aged, gap year, and early career individuals who want to be emergency medical technicians, wilderness EMTs, fireline EMTs, search and rescue personnel, ski patrollers, expedition medics, and backcountry guides or are considering a career in medicine.
Program Details
Spring Semester: Montana & Costa Rica
Explore the rainforests of Costa Rica and the rugged beauty of Montana
February 1-April 13, 2026
Certifications: NREMT, W-EMT, Red Card, LNT, Avalanche 1, Ropes/Swiftwater Rescue
Summer Semester: Montana
Learn critical rescue skills and earn industry-recognized certifications in emergency medicine
June 1-30, 2026
Certifications: Emergency Medical Technician, Wilderness EMT, Red Card
Fall Semester: Montana & India
Journey from the wilds of Montana to the breathtaking peaks of the Indian Himalaya
September 1-November 9, 2026
Certifications: NREMT, W-EMT, Red Card, Avalanche 1, Ropes Rescue, Leave No Trace
Meet Your Guides
All our instructors have EMT or RN licenses and long experience in the outdoor, emergency, and healthcare fields. Some are commercial guides, ski patrollers, park rangers, backcountry search or rescue team members. Others have master’s degrees in emergency medicine ot direct or teach for outdoor organizations.
Our leaders live their dreams and show students how to do the same.
PROGRAM CULTURE
A Day in the Life.
A run in the mountains before breakfast, followed by a scenario-based lesson on head trauma. Lunch in a hammock, prolonged rescue simulations, volleyball before dinner, and an evening spent memorizing wilderness medicine terminology under the stars.
Aerie semesters offer some of the most rigorous and rewarding experiences of your life. If communal living, fast-paced learning, prolonged emergency scenarios, and travel with your tribe appeal to you, our semester programs might be just right.
Hundreds of bold young people curious about working at the intersection of medicine and the outdoors have gone through our semester programs in the past 20 years, making discoveries about themselves and jumpstarting stimulating careers in the process.
Do you want to be one of them?
TUITION
An Aerie semester is a great investment, and we work to make the cost affordable for all.
Aerie offers $3,000 prepayment discounts and scholarships for Montana residents. Scholarships are also available through Americorps and the GI Bill. Several local foundations offer grants, as do various national conservation and Youth Corps groups. Some colleges enable students to receive federal funding. And we’re always glad to brainstorm about starting other ways of paying for the semester.
Alumni Spotlight
Our Spring 2024 grads are already making their way in the world of wilderness medicine.
Abby was an EMT for Aerie and a river guide with Jack and Sam this summer. Josie is a pre-med undergraduate student. Tori is a lawyer in Idaho. Aidan is fighting fires in Idaho, and Haleigh is a Denver EMT who works on fires throughout the West. She often climbs with Zoe, a Boulder medical assistant. Abby joined Zoe for a few days when Zoe thru-hiked the PCT, and they later bikepacked 300 miles.
Five of them reunited in July 2025 to hike and climb in the Tetons and raft the Snake River (photo, right).
They got their start at Aerie. So can you.
