The University of Central Florida is expanding its space medicine program to train students in providing healthcare for astronauts during missions.
“Space medicine is a relatively new field in the realm of things when you think about the history of medicine, which really started in the 1960s with the first humans flown into space,” said Dr. Manny Urquieta, founder of the division of aerospace medicine at UCF.
Urquieta joined UCF two years ago after serving as chief medical officer at the Johnson Space Center in Texas. He is leading efforts to establish a master’s degree in space medicine and a residency program to prepare future physicians for astronaut and pilot care.
“We are developing a new master’s degree of space medicine and also a residency program so we can train the future physicians who will become more certified to take care of our astronauts and pilots,” Urquieta said.
Students in the program will conduct astronaut health checks before missions, assist in selecting the next generation of astronauts and support their training.
“Once they’re selected to help with their training and once they’re assigned to a mission, get all the medical checks that they need to be certified for that mission. Then, once they’re in space, the physicians will take care of them with telemedicine, or some of them perhaps could fly into space,” Urquieta said.
Physicians trained in the program will also assist astronauts at recovery sites after their missions and beyond.
