Program Director
Benjamin Church, DO
Dr. Ben Church completed his wilderness medicine fellowship at Baystate in 2018. During his fellowship year he spent 3 months working at the high altitude clinic in Nepal with the Himalayan Rescue Association, volunteered part-time with the Berkshire East ski patrol, received his AIARE I and Avalanche Rescue certifications, published a case report in the Wilderness and Environmental Journal on backcountry AEDs, and taught Advanced Wilderness Life Support as an instructor in the Adirondack mountains.
Dr. Church's main academic interests include high altitude illness, cold weather medicine - including frostbite and hypothermia, and the use of medical technology in the backcountry.
His personal passion lies mainly in backpacking, especially lightweight backpacking. He has backpacked extensively both nationally and internationally, including the 100 Mile Wilderness and Allagash River in Maine, Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, New Zealand’s south island, Iceland, the Na Pali Coast in Hawaii, and National Parks, such as Grand Tetons, Zion, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Canyonlands. He has summited the tallest peak in every New England state, and in October 2016 he completed the notorious death march of the Presidential Traverse in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.