Dr Irmgard Bauer - Research Portfolio

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About

I am a Registered Nurse from Germany where I worked as a Clinical Nurse Consultant in ICU, a Medical ward, ENT, Ophthalmology and Dermatology. My first appointment abroad was in Austria as a Clinical Nurse Consultant on a large medical ward where I also established a school for Enrolled Nurses. My teaching career started as a third-year-student and, after graduation, as a teaching assistant, a prerequisite for the Diploma in Nurse Education course. I then worked as a nurse educator and deputy director of a nursing school in the north of Germany with a short interlude in Syria, where I volunteered with the Palestinian Red Crescent during the Beirut-Siege in 1982.

After intensive studies of the Arabic language and courses in Tropical Medicine at the Bernhard Nocht Tropeninstitut in Hamburg and the University of Heidelberg, I moved to the then North-Yemen where, for over five years, I taught nursing students at the Health Manpower Institute of the Ministry of Health in the capital Sana'a. In Yemen I was fortunate to work and live with people from a very different cultural background who allowed me to participate in all aspects of their lives. To return to Europe, I travelled three months across Africa from Kenya to Senegal.

The next years saw me at the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff, UK, where I completed a Master and a PhD in Nursing. I came to Australia in March 1994 and, until my retirement in April 2016, worked as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing Sciences at James Cook University. Following my interest in Public Health, Tropical Medicine and their application in developing countries, I completed a Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at JCU, a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima/Peru and the University of Alabama, Birmingham/USA, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Infectious Diseases at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, University of London. I also completed a Master of Tourism and Postgraduate Certificate of Travel Medicine at JCU. I earned a Doctorate in International Health from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia, following my interest in the impact of tourism in developing countries on the health of the local host communities. I attended - and taught in - a course on Travel and Tropical Medicine at the Instituto de Medicina Tropical 'Pedro Kouri' at the University of Havana, Cuba. In 2019, I completed a Diploma in Modern Languages (Spanish) from the University of New England, Armidale, Australia. Over the years I have dedicated my research, under the umbrella of Travel Health Nursing, to travellers' health and to tourism's health impacts, predominantly in Peru/South America.

I am a Fellow of the Faculty of Travel Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow), of the Royal Geographical Society, and of the International Society of Travel Medicine. I serve on the editorial board of Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease and review for several journals. I am also a member of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine and am affiliated with the International Institute for Animal Ethics in Canada.

I am a student ambassador for the University of London international program, and an honorary life member of the South American Explorers, New York. I am a member of the National Geographic Society and of the Australian Geographic Society.

In my current adjunct position with the College of Healthcare Sciences at JCU, I continue to teach, research, publish and present internationally.

Interests

Research

Tropical Medicine and Travel Medicine
Tourism Health Impacts
Travel Health Nursing
International Health
International Development
Poverty Elimination
Development of Research Methods
Ethics in Medical Volunteering/international Student Placements
Animal Welfare in Tourism

Teaching

Tropical Medicine
Travel Medicine

Research Disciplines

Socio-Economic Objectives

Honours

Awards

2002 - Golden Key International Honor Society

Fellowships

2017 - International Society of Travel Medicine
2012 - Royal Geographic Society
2010 - Faculty of Travel Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow)
2010 to 2013 - Australasian College of Tropical Medicine

Memberships

2017 - South African Society of Travel Medicine
2016 - Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine
2004 - Asia Pacific Society of Travel Health
1997 - International Society of Travel Medicine
2001 to 2009 - Australasian College of Tropical Medicine

Publications

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

Bauer I (2022) COVID-19: how can travel medicine benefit from tourism’s focus on people during a pandemic? Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, 8.
Bauer I (2021) Death as attraction: the role of travel medicine and psychological travel health care in 'dark tourism'. Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, 7.
Bauer I (2021) Healthy, safe and responsible: the modern female traveller. Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, 7.
Bauer I (2020) Visiting the 'Green Fairy': absinthe-tourism – a potential challenge for travel medicine? Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 37.
Bauer I (2019) Travel medicine, coca and cocaine: demystifying and rehabilitating Erythroxylum – a comprehensive review. Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, 5.
Bauer I (2018) When travel is a challenge: travel medicine and the ‘dis-abled’ traveller. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 22. pp. 66-72
Bauer I (2017) More harm than good? The questionable ethics of medical volunteering and international student placements. Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and Vaccines, 3 (5). pp. 1-12
Bauer I (2017) Improving global health: is tourism's role in poverty elimination perpetuating poverty, powerlessness and 'ill-being'? . Global Public Health, 12 (1). pp. 45-64
Bauer I (2016) The plight of the cute little lambs: travel medicine's role in animal welfare. Journal of Ecotourism, 16 (2). pp. 95-111
Bauer I (2015) Contact lens wearers' experiences while trekking in the Khumbu region/Nepal: a cross-sectional survey. Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 13 (2). pp. 178-184
Bauer I (2015) Airport surveys at travel destinations: iunderutilized opportunities in travel medicine research? Journal of Travel Medicine, 22 (2). pp. 124-129

Book Chapters

Bauer I (2016) The older traveller. In: The Older Traveller: a guide for the health professional. South African Society of Travel Medicine, Green Stone, South Africa, pp. 1-9