Imagine the responsibility of being Sir David Attenborough’s doctor 10,000 feet up in a balloon. For our final article of the year, we asked Dr Lucy Obolensky how it felt. Enjoy and see you all in 2017!

Facing an unexpected RTA in Nepal: a brilliant reminder of why expeditions are such a challenging and interesting setting in which to practice medicine and a great summary of the lessons to be learned.

EMT Jamie Pattison on winning the Berghaus Iceman, reaching his physical and emotional limits in the world’s toughest Arctic ski race.

Is there anything more badass than a polar volcano? Ask Dr Zoe Burton – she took a break from anaesthetic training in Portsmouth to be an expedition doctor at the foot of Antarctica’s Mount Erebus.

Through a geological quirk, the summit of Ecuador’s Mount Chimborazo is the furthest point from the centre of the Earth. Chris Imray, Hannah Lock and the BMRES Team headed for the peak.

In the week that the Calais ‘Jungle’ is bulldozed, this is Hannah Evans’ account of volunteering in a refugee camp in the port of Mytilini, Greece.

How do you run a large, fully funded expedition while still a medical student? James Penney on the MADEX 2015 research expedition to remote Madagascar, studying schistosomiasis.

UK Doctors Morven Telling and Byrony Corbyn’s moving account of volunteering in the Calais and Dunkirk refugee camps, including links for volunteers, for donations.

Karen Bevan-Mogg’s trip to Kenya with Primary Care International, a new venture aimed at tackling the growing burden of non-communicable diseases in low to middle income countries. They are currently recruiting NHS GPs to help.

Vascular surgeon Chris Imray explores the jungles and mountains of West Papua on an ascent of the most exotic Seventh Summit: Carstensz Pyramid, Oceania’s highest peak.