The International Committee of Military Medicine, the ICMM Reference Centre for Education of International Humanitarian Law and Ethics, and the Swiss Armed Forces Medical Services Directorate wish to offer to young Military Medical Personnel, Military Medico-Legal Officers, and Chaplains as well as other interested members of the armed forces a course on Military Medical Ethics (MME).

07-11 April 2024 in Magglingen (Switzerland)

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The venue of the course has changed and it will now take place in the facilities of the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport in Magglingen, Switzerland. The venue offers both modern hotel facilities as well as an up-to-date teaching infrastructure.

General Information on the Military Medical Ethics Course

LoAC CircleThis advanced course aims at qualifying the participants to make correct decisions in situations where competences in international law and ethics are similarly relevant. The capacity is built and trained by means of case studies which are drawn on situations and reports from recent deployment.
The concrete cases and topics can vary from year to year and will reflect current needs. Cases from the experience of course participants are welcome but should be made in advance to allow for a sound preparation of the analysis

The course aims at…

  • … enabling participants to recognize and analyze situations that present ethical and legal dilemmas from contemporary military deployments;
  • … qualifying the participants to make legally and ethically sound decisions in situations where competences in international law and ethics are similarly relevant.

Course Program

  • The provisional Course program can be downloaded here (PDF). Changes to the program may occur.
    Information about the mandatory e-learning before the course further below on this page!
  • For questions regarding the course or the registration, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Plenary2 Spiez

Hybrid Classroom Course 2024

The 12th ICMM Course on Military Medical Ethics in Times of Armed Conflict (Military Medical Ethics/ MME) will take place from 07-11 April 2024. It will be the held as a hybrid classroom course with participants both on-site in Magglingen (CH) and online.

In preparation for the course, participants will get access to an e-learning tool and will have to follow some exercises online. Participants are free to schedule when they do these tasks (which amount to about 5-7h in total) within three weeks before the course.
The main course will be held on-site and via videoconferencing and the participants and teachers will meet during fixed times in the virtual environment. Hence, the usual format of the course that includes some lectures and much groupwork and discussions will be transferred into a hybrid classroom. In addition, external experts may join the course for lectures. Thus, the hybrid course shall be as close to the in situ course format as possible and shall offer as much direct exchange between the participants and the teaching team as possible.

Application for the course

Please carefully read the course information on this page before applying. For your application, you will need a short letter of motivation and a very short CV. They will help us in selecting participants if we receive more applications than we can accommodate. Participants will be selected with the aim of putting together a well-balanced group of participants to allow for productive discussions.

Criteria for selection

  • The motivation and previous knowledge/ expertise/ experience of applicants
  • The function and institutional role of applicants
  • Date when the application is received
  • The number of participants per country is usually limited to 2.

Applications are now closed.

For questions regarding the course or the registration, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


Language

  • The course is held in English language. Participants must have sufficient knowledge in English to read texts, understand presentations, and to participate in discussions.

Course Fee

On-site-participation

  • A fee of 1'100.00 CHF will be charged and has to be paid by course participants in advance, directly to the hotel. Details about the payment modalities will be communicated to confirmed participants.
    It includes
    • Accommodation in the hotel, all meals, non-alcoholic beverages for the course duration.
    • Access to the online material and the preparatory e-learning session.
    • Extensive course documents, cultural events and excursions with transfers are free of charge for participants and will be paid by the Swiss Confederation.
  • Participants shall bear their travelling costs to and from Switzerland.
  • The course organization can financially support a small number of participants. In this case, we normally cover the course costs and the hotel, while the participants bear their own travel costs.
    The application for financial support must be submitted online and include a letter of motivation and CV.
    A limited number of sponsorships are available, and these are allocated in such a way as to ensure a balanced overall group. There is no entitlement to sponsorship.

Online-particpation

  • The online course can be attended free of charge.
  • A motivation letter is required and the online class will be limited to 15 participants in order to allow for discussions and excange among the participants.
  • Applications are now closed.

Certificate & Accreditation

Successful participants will receive a certificate issued by the Swiss Armed Forces Medical Services Directorate and the ICMM Center of Reference for Education on IHL and Ethics. The course has also been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®). Details see below.

Europe: The 12th Course on Military Medical Ethics in Times of Armed Conflict, Magglingen, Switzerland 07/04/2024 - 11/04/202412th Course on Military Medical Ethics in Times of Armed Conflict, Magglingen, Switzerland 07/04/2024 - 11/04/2024 , has been accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) with 25.0 European CME credits (ECMEC®s). Each medical specialist should claim only those hours of credit that he/she actually spent in the educational activity.

USA: Through an agreement between the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes and the American Medical Association, physicians may convert EACCME® credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits TM. Information on the process to convert EACCME® credit to AMA credit can be found at www.ama-assn.org/education/earn-credit-participation-international-activities.

Canada: Live educational activities, occurring outside of Canada, recognised by the UEMS-EACCME® for ECMEC®s are deemed to be Accredited Group Learning Activities (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Conditions to participate online

The following conditions must be met by everybody who wishes to participate in the 2024 MME hybrid classroom course. Even though the course is held as a hybrid classroom course, it is not a passive e-learning course, but all participants and teachers will meet online during fixed times in a closed videoconference room.

Course Schedule – mandatory sessions
  • All participants must follow the e-learning individually and complete some tasks online in weeks 11-14 (starting 11 March 2024). A total of 5-7 hours is needed to complete the e-learning.
  • The main course will be run from Sunday, April 07 to Thursday, April 11, 2024. All participants are expected to participate in the daily fixed hours are between 0830 to 1600 CEST (Zurich time). Certificates will only be handed to participants who actively participate in the course.
Technical requirements for online participants
  • A computer or tablet with a webcam and microphone with the software zoom installed. A mobile phone is not sufficient.
  • Internet access with sufficient bandwidth for videoconferences.
  • Unrestricted access to “zoom conferences” and the websites https://e-courses.melac.ch/ and https://scenarios.militarymedicalethics.ch must be guaranteed during the whole course. Potential restrictions by security settings or military firewalls must be checked beforehand by the participants.

Teachers of the 2024 course

Ethics teachers
IHL/ LOAC teacher
  • COL Cord von Einem