Science Policy Training for a New Physician Leader: Description and Framework of a Novel Climate and Health Science Policy Fellowship

Abstract

The accelerating health impacts of climate change are undermining global health, and the roles of the health sector in addressing the many challenges of climate change are being articulated by governments, multilateral institutions, and professional societies. Given the paucity of physician engagement on this issue to date, there now exists a clear need for health professionals to meet this new challenge with the development and cultivation of new knowledge and skill sets in public health, environmental science, policy, and communication. We describe a novel GME fellowship in climate and health science policy, designed to train a new generation of clinicians to provide the necessary perspective and skills for effective leadership in this field. This fellowship identifies available university resources and leverages external collaborations (government, medical consortiums, affiliate institutions in public health, and environmental science), which we describe as being replicatable to similar training programs of any number of medical specialties and likewise bring meaningful opportunities to their respective training programs and academic departments. The creation of this novel fellowship in climate and health policy provides a roadmap and potential path for similar programs to join us in addressing the defining health issue of this generation and many to follow.

Climate Change and Mental Health Curricula: Addressing Barriers to Teaching

“…With fledgling climate and mental health curricula, evaluation data are lagging. Scholars have proposed competencies for different medical training levels as well as learner assessment strategies [ 17 , 21 , 33 , 38 , 40 ]. Climate health education case vignettes have been used in medical student objective structured clinical exercises [ 41 ].…”

“…There are several curricular efforts, although few full curricula on climate change in health care settings [ 10 , 12 – 17 ]. For example, the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, has included climate health education content in the first-year core curriculum since 2016 [ 12 ].…”

Empowering Veterinarians to Be Planetary Health Stewards Through Policy and Practice

“…Programs that allow veterinarians to gain experience at the science-policy interface, such as the AVMA Fellowship Program, must be strengthened. Specific training opportunities, such as fellowships in climate change and health policy and creating climate-specific advocacy toolkits and practitioner guides, would empower veterinarians to act (105)(106)(107)(108). Professional society leadership are well poised to develop and teach these skills to practitioners (105, 106).…”

Training Clinical And Public Health Leaders In Climate And Health

“…The two fellowships partnered on shared curricula, research projects, and off-campus preceptorships and have a mutual strategic goal: to train physicians in climate education, meaningful engagement, and effective communication to create leaders in the field of climate change and health. 15 Professional Learning, Practice, And Advocacy…”