Climate and health education: A critical review at one medical school

Abstract

IntroductionAs medical schools continue to improve and refine their undergraduate curricula, they are also redefining the roadmap for preparing future generations of physicians. Climate change is a critical topic to integrate into medical education. This period of change for undergraduate medical education coincides with a surge in interest and design efforts for climate and health curricula in health professional education, but this nascent field has yet to be solidly institutionalized. To continue to grow the number of medical students who achieve competency in the effects of climate change on individual health and the health of the planet during their training, we must examine what has worked to date and continue to shift our approach as curricular changes are implemented for feasibility and relevancy.Objective and methodsIn the present study, we assessed the “climate and health” content at one northeastern U.S. medical school that is undergoing an overhaul of their entire curriculum to explore strategies to deliver more robust climate health education in the context of the educational redesign. We conducted 1) a retrospective review of the now four-year-old initiative to investigate the sustainability of the original content, and 2) semi-structured interviews with lecturers, course directors, and medical education coordinators involved in implementation, and with faculty tasked with developing the upcoming curricular redesign.Results and discussionOf the original implementation plan, the content was still present in nine of the 14 lectures. Themes determined from our conversations with involved faculty included the need for 1) a shared vision throughout the content arc, 2) further professional development for faculty, and 3) involvement of summative assessment for students and the content itself to ensure longevity. The interviews also highlighted the importance of developing climate-specific resources that fit within the school's new curricular priorities. This critical review can serve as a case study in curriculum to inform other schools undergoing similar changes.

Pediatric Resident and Program Director Views on Climate Change and Health Curricula: A Multi-Institution Study

“…14 In 2019, the American Medical Association issued a statement supporting climate change teaching in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education curricula. 15 While there have been attempts to describe and evaluate climate change curricula for medical students, [16][17][18][19]…”

“…In 2019, the American Medical Association issued a statement supporting climate change teaching in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education curricula 15 . While there have been attempts to describe and evaluate climate change curricula for medical students, 16–19 to our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the extent to which pediatric residency programs are teaching residents about climate change and health or what types of training or climate change–related activities residents want prioritized.…”

Interprofessional Climate Change Curriculum in Health Professional Programs: A Scoping Review

“…Presently, a chief challenge in incorporating climate change topics into health IPE includes the revision and evaluation process needed for any curriculum change amid an already rigorous, time-intensive curriculum [4]. In recent years, many health professional programs have undertaken efforts to incorporate information on climate change into lecture presentations and research [4][5][6]. A few institutions have developed certificate programs and elective courses that students can opt into [4,[6][7][8][9][10].…”

The Climate Change Conversation: Understanding Nationwide Medical Education Efforts

“…Past literature has investigated the varying formats in which climate-health curriculum has been implemented and have conducted surveys of students and faculty members [13,23,28]. However, there have been few examples of studies that have conducted open-ended interviews of faculty members involved in these efforts; face-to-face conversations with faculty members may illuminate nuance within the conversation of curriculum development and implementation of climate change-related health curriculum [30].…”