Medicine at Sea
Building the Next Standard for Cruise Ship Medical Care and a New Career Option for young Surgeons and Physicians
17th November 2026, 19:00 to 20:00 GMT
Overview
Cruise medicine is becoming an important and specialised field of maritime healthcare. With global cruise passenger numbers reaching a record 37.2 million in 2025 and ships becoming larger, more complex and longer-range, the demands on onboard medical teams are evolving rapidly. This webinar will examine the changing medical needs of passengers and crew, regulatory and industry expectations, and the gap between required competence and standardised specialist education. It will also explore how the College of Offshore and Maritime Medicine in Malta in collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, could help shape future cruise medicine training.
Aims
- To provide an overview of the rapidly evolving field of cruise ship medicine and the clinical, operational and regulatory challenges created by increasingly large and complex passenger vessels.
- To highlight the need for consistent, evidence-based specialist education for healthcare professionals working in cruise environments.
- To stimulate discussion between clinicians, cruise operators, regulators and medical educators about the future of cruise medicine training and international standards.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this webinar, attendees should be able to:
- Describe the key clinical and operational differences between conventional clinical practice and medical practice on large cruise ships.
- Identify the principal regulatory, credentialing and industry expectations relevant to medical care at sea.
- Recognise common gaps and variability in current preparation and training for healthcare professionals entering cruise medicine.
- Discuss the core competencies that a future structured cruise medicine curriculum should address.
- Explain how collaboration between maritime medical education providers, cruise operators and professional colleges could support higher and more consistent standards of care.
Panellists
Our panellists include:
- TBC
CPD
1 Hour
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Recording
A recording of the webinar will be made available on this page in the days following the live broadcast.
