Perspectives on climate change in medical school curricula—A survey of U.S. medical students

Exploring UK medical students' views on the inclusion of healthcare and climate change within undergraduate medical education - a national survey

“…More than half of the medical students reported to be unprepared to counsel patients regarding the health risks brought about by climate change. These results are mirrored in a similar US study where more than 90% of medical students surveyed, believed that climate change could result in adverse health outcomes but only 6.3% felt prepared to discuss the topic (Hampshire et al 2021). This lack of con dence, although could be partially explained by the students' reduced clinical exposure or communication skills development, points to a lack of knowledge as a signi cant cause.…”

“…An online survey was developed and distributed to all year cohorts in the 37 medical schools across the UK. The survey consisted of 21 questions, modelled on previous US based studies, and aimed to obtain relevant student related factors that could in uence likelihood of students' pursuing medical school curricula change to incorporate climate change and its consequences (Hampshire et al 2021) The survey consisted of a mixture of multiple-choice, 5-point Likert scale of agreeableness and free text questions in order to ascertain a comprehensive overview of medical students' perspectives. Google Forms was utilised as online platform of choice to deliver the self-administered surveys.…”

Knowledge on Causes and Consequences of Climate Change in a Cohort of Italian Students

“…From our data emerges how only 31% of the future healthcare workers attended classes dealing with the topic of CC, compared to 49% and 63.4% of students from humanities and scientific fields, respectively. These data are discouraging in the light of the importance of healthcare professionals in addressing CC, but it is not surprising considering that a call to an implementation of CC courses has been sent by students and institutions from different Countries [16], [35]- [39]. However, Italy is implementing education on sustainability and climate change in its schools' core curriculum [40].…”

“…Healthcare workers play a role in promoting individual and collective changes, such as eating less meat and avoiding car transfers, for people to modify their behaviours with a co-benefit for the population' and environment's health [14], [15]. All considered, a thorough knowledge assessment is important to understand whether the curriculum of medical students can provide adequate training on this topic [16]. Higher education plays an essential role in training students and increase their awareness on challenges posed by CC [17], therefore adequate university curricula are essential for acting towards global warming.…”

Preclinical Curricular Changes to Address Sustainable Healthcare Education in Psychiatry

“…Many health groups, including the American Medical Association, and medical student groups have called for education on health threats of climate change [2,3]. Furthermore, a recent survey of medical students' attitudes indicates the majority believe the current sustainable healthcare education to be insufficient preparation for what they will face in their careers [4]. A recent study evaluating the integration of sustainable healthcare education into core curricula has identified the preclinical years of medical training as the optimal time for such teaching [2].…”