Medical students as advocates for a healthy planet and healthy people: Designing an assessment that prepares learners to take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of sustainability consciousness (SC) and sustainable development (SD) awareness of medical students, as well as to identify the factors associated with them. Design/methodology/approach This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted among 1,435 medical students. The socio-demographic questionnaire and the sustainability consciousness questionnaire (SCQ-L) were the data collection instruments. Findings A significant proportion of medical students had not heard of the concept of SD (63.6%), only 7.9% of the participants reported that they could define the SD concept. Female gender and good economic status were associated with significantly higher median SCQ-L total score (p = 0.001). Although all SD goals are closely related to health, almost half of the medical students reported no impact on SD. Besides, 47.8% of the medical students reported that physicians could have an active role in achieving SD. Social implications As the realization of SD and health services are closely linked, it is important to examine the sustainability knowledge, attitude and behavior of health professionals. Originality/value This study examined the SD awareness and SC knowledge, attitude and behavior among medical students, the leading health-care professionals of the future.

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Don’t forget the veggies! Identifying and addressing a lack of vegetable education in physiology

Moro,

Phelps,

McLean

2023

Advances in Physiology Education

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Ninety-five percent of Westerners do not consume the recommended daily vegetable intake, exacerbating the incidence of obesity, malnutrition, and nutritional deficiencies such as fibre. This article reviews the literature from PUBMED, ERIC, and Web of Science, as well as Internet sites and government resources, to identify what should be considered important inclusions relating to dietary vegetable (including legumes and pulses) intake content in university Physiology subjects. The primary aim is to advance the competency relating to good nutrition knowledge for future health professionals to enable them to guide and counsel patients and clients toward better health. A review of the literature provides scant nutritional content relating to vegetable intake, particularly across Physiology subjects and health professional programs in general. A review of country dietary guidelines yielded discrepancies and ambiguity around recommended daily vegetable intake, including what constitutes essential vegetables. Educators responsible for embedding nutritional information in the curriculum would therefore be challenged to find reliable, evidence-based resources. Adding quality curriculum content on the importance of vegetable intake also promotes some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 2 ( Zero Hunger), thereby contributing to SDG 3 ( Good Health and Well-Being). This article offers recommendations on how to embed content relating to the importance of dietary vegetables for good health, and guidance for educators of health professions programs wanting to improve their curriculum content relating to adequate nutrition.

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Medical students as advocates for a healthy planet and healthy people: Designing an assessment that prepares learners to take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Cited by 3 publications

References 16 publications

Environmental sustainability in anatomy: A call for action

Environmental sustainability in anatomy: A call for action

What do medical students know about sustainable development?

Don’t forget the veggies! Identifying and addressing a lack of vegetable education in physiology

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