Sustainable healthcare in medical education: survey of the student perspectives at a UK medical school

Gupta, Dhruv; Shantharam, Lahvanya; MacDonald, Bridget

doi:10.1186/s12909-022-03737-5

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In contrast, the Lancet Countdown [93] makes the health aspects of the climate crisis very clear. From a student perspective, one study found that only 1.8% of students at a London university felt they had been taught about sustainable healthcare, despite it now being a requirement for the curriculum [94]. The survey result is also interesting because health is commonly seen as a way to frame climate change [95] and communicating climate change as a health issue can increase public support for climate policies [96]-yet there appears to be a disconnect with medicine, health & life sciences researchers.…”

Section: Plos Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

Latter,

Demski,

Capstick

2024

PLOS Clim

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Interest in the relationship between the activities of universities and action on climate change is growing, but until recently there has been little focus on the critical role of researchers, particularly with regards to how research practices and culture can enable or inhibit change. This study addresses this gap, exploring researchers’ perceptions of universities’ measures to tackle their own emissions, their own engagement on issues surrounding the climate crisis, and challenges and opportunities for researchers to contribute to them. We present findings from a representative survey of 1,853 researchers from 127 UK universities across disciplines and career stages, including comparing responses across these professional differences, and analysis based on over 5,000 open text responses provided by the survey participants. The results show that while most have some knowledge of actions being taken by their universities and feel that universities’ public declarations of a climate emergency are making a difference, almost half think not enough is being done. They feel that responsibility for university climate action sits across government, universities and research councils, but almost all researchers are also personally worried about climate change and want to do more themselves to address it. For the most part, they also strongly support climate advocacy by those engaged in research. Yet high workload, uncertainty about what actions to take, perceived lack of agency or power, inflexible university processes and pressure to travel are just some of the many barriers researchers face in taking action. The study highlights how these barriers can be overcome, and the steps universities and researchers can take to better incorporate climate action into their research culture and practices.

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Section: Plos Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

Latter,

Demski,

Capstick

2024

PLOS Clim

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“…Recycling and waste segregation play an important role in preventing the long term consequences that are associated with water, air and soil pollution, which affect the health of all living organisms. 8 Environmental Non-Governmental Organisations (ENOGs) are organisations formed to address environmental issues and promote environmental sustainability. Greenpeace India is an Indian NGO whose reach extends to over 55 countries globally.…”

Section: Solutions and Avenues For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of medical students in a Metropolitan city on the role of planetary health in medicine and the impact of climate change on health through a survey

Arun Bharadwaj,

Jannavada

2023

Int J Community Med Public Health

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Background: The study identifies medical students as channels of behavior change communication and intends to study the knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students with regard to climate change and its impact on health. The study also aims to address the role of planetary health in medicine. Methods: A questionnaire adapted from the standard KAP Form published by the UNICEF, aimed at assessing the subjects’ knowledge of the effects of climate change on health, their attitude with regard to the present situation, and their involvement in climate friendly activities, was administered upon informed consent. Further, they were enquired about the position of their institution on sustainable practices and climate education. The above was studied through several open and closed ended questions. The data was assessed through relevant tools. Results: The study showed that 94.02% of the subjects believed that climate change was real and 47.87% of them believe that climate change is equally caused by human and environmental factors while 45.30% of them felt human factors were the primary cause of climate change. Nearly 66.68% of the responders considered planetary health and climate change education highly essential components of the medical curriculum. Conclusions: Climate change is a serious concern, and has a severe impact on ecosystems and human health. Medical students must be aware of the role that climate change plays in disease pathophysiology, and act as agents of dissemination of climate education and planetary health.

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“…Although the integration of PHE into the medical curriculum has been demanded repeatedly, including by medical students in Germany and globally, the integration of PHE into medical education and the monitoring of these processes remains insufficient (22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). Like in other countries, such as the UK (28), previous studies show that that the majority of German students is not yet familiar with the PH concept, but would like to learn more about PH and consider it relevant to their studies (29). While a growing number of curricular and extracurricular educational activities is being implemented at several institutions, including nationwide lecture series (11), the experience of stakeholders involved or interested in PHE at German medical schools has, to our knowledge, not yet been explored.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ten characteristics of high-quality planetary health education—Results from a qualitative study with educators, students as educators and study deans at medical schools in Germany

Simon

Parisi

Wabnitz

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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AimThe climate and ecological crises are considered fundamental threats to human health. Healthcare workers in general and doctors in particular can contribute as change agents in mitigation and adaptation. Planetary health education (PHE) aims to harness this potential. This study explores perspectives among stakeholders involved in PHE at German medical schools on the characteristics of high-quality PHE and compares them to existing PHE frameworks.MethodsIn 2021, we conducted a qualitative interview study with stakeholders from German medical schools involved in PHE. Three different groups were eligible: faculty members, medical students actively involved in PHE, and study deans of medical schools. Recruitment was performed through national PHE networks and snowball sampling. Thematic qualitative text analysis according to Kuckartz was used for the analysis. Results were systematically compared to three existing PHE frameworks.ResultsA total of 20 participants (13 female) from 15 different medical schools were interviewed. Participants covered a wide range of professional backgrounds and experience in PHE education. The analysis revealed ten key themes: (1) Complexity and systems thinking, (2) inter- and transdisciplinarity, (3) ethical dimension, (4) responsibility of health professionals, (5) transformative competencies including practical skills, (6) space for reflection and resilience building, (7) special role of students, (8) need for curricular integration, (9) innovative and proven didactic methods, and (10) education as a driver of innovation. Six of our themes showed substantial overlap with existing PHE frameworks. Two of our themes were only mentioned in one of the frameworks, and two others were not explicitly mentioned. Few important elements of the frameworks did not emerge from our data.ConclusionsIn the light of increased attention regarding the connections of the climate and ecological crises and health, our results can be useful for anyone working toward the integration of planetary health into medical schools' and any health professions' curricula and should be considered when designing and implementing new educational activities.

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Sustainable healthcare in medical education: survey of the student perspectives at a UK medical school

Cited by 8 publications

References 21 publications

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities

Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice of medical students in a Metropolitan city on the role of planetary health in medicine and the impact of climate change on health through a survey

Ten characteristics of high-quality planetary health education—Results from a qualitative study with educators, students as educators and study deans at medical schools in Germany

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