About six years ago, I completed my 200 hr yoga teacher training in Costa Rica. It was a condensed three-week experience, about all the time I could take away from my full-time position in the Emergency Department at the time.

People asked me, “Why are you doing this? You’re a nurse practitioner… what do you need yoga teacher training for?”

It was a fair question.

My answer: “I’m not doing it to become a yoga instructor. I’m doing it to understand it yoga more deeply…and to learn how to bring those teaching and healing qualities into my life and work.”

Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made.

Not because I went on to teach yoga – but because it changed how I communicate and how I show up. And it deepened my understanding far beyond anything I could have learned from a textbook.

That’s exactly how I think about this instructor course.

As the founder and owner of MedTreks, one of the questions I get asked all the time is:
“You have the dream job… how do I become an instructor and live your life?”

For a long time, I didn’t have a clean, straightforward answer. My honest answer would be: “its a lot harder than you think” 🙂

Over the years, I’ve sat through hundreds of hours of wilderness medicine education. I’ve learned from some of the most respected leaders in the field; people who wrote the textbooks and published the clinical practice guidelines. I’ve also learned from newer instructors who are bravely stepping into teaching for the first time.

A good instructor:

Yes, they’re confident.
Yes, they’re engaging.

But there’s something more.

There’s a kind of energy that doesn’t fade. A genuine enthusiasm for what they’re teaching and who they’re teaching. They can be on their feet for hours and still feel fully present. They’ve walked their talk. And they care deeply about passing that knowledge on.

We live in a time where many people are incredibly well-read – and that’s a great thing. But there’s a difference between knowing something and being able to apply it in real life… especially when resources are limited and decisions matter.

And there’s an even bigger leap between understanding something yourself and being able to teach it in a way that sticks.

This course is about bridging that gap.

We’ve built this course alongside some of the best instructors I’ve worked with in wilderness medicine. These are people who hold a presence in a room that doesn’t need a powerpoint or a whiteboard.

Of course, you’ll learn how to:

• Design and deliver engaging, meaningful lectures
• Use moulage to create realistic scenarios
• Practice teaching and receive thoughtful, supportive feedback
• Build a library of scenarios, stories, and teaching tools you can take with you

By the end, you will feel more prepared to design, set up and deliver a course. You will be more prepared to stand up in front of a group and create an experience that impacts people.

But what feels just as important – maybe even more so – are the less obvious pieces:

• Learning how to lead with presence
• Finding your voice as an educator
• Inspiring others and sharing your passion in a way that resonates
• Building people up, even when they’re not quite ready
• Setting healthy boundaries as a leader
• Taking care of others—and teaching them to do the same

These are the skills that extend far beyond wilderness medicine. They show up in your clinical work, your leadership, your relationships, and your sense of purpose.

At its core, this course isn’t just about wilderness medicine.

It’s about how you show up: for your patients, your students, your colleagues, and yourself.

I have a feeling this is going to be one of the most meaningful courses we’ve ever taught.

We have a couple of spots left, and I’m excited to see who sweeps up those last spots. It’s going to be a special cohort..leading the next generation of Wilderness Medicine education!

Thanks for reading!