Climate Change as a Social Determinant of Health: An Interactive Case-Based Learning Activity

Authors

Arindam Sarkar
Nital P Appelbaum
Rathi Asaithambi
Connie Tran
Doris Lin
Anjali Aggarwal
Stephanie Nguyen

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Journal

MedEdPORTAL

DOI

10.15766/mep_2374-8265.11332

PMID

37538305

PMCID

PMC10394120

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

8-2-2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-Print

Published Open-Access

yes

Keywords

Humans, Climate Change, Social Determinants of Health, Curriculum, Education, Medical, Students, Medical, Environmental Determinants of Health, Case-Based Learning, Community-Based Medicine, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health, Climate Change, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Despite consensus on climate change's impact on humans, medical schools have not widely adopted inclusion of environmental topics into their mandatory curriculum. This educational activity explicitly addresses climate change as one of the environmental determinants of health (EDH).

METHODS: We developed a required, 1-hour module for all first-year medical students. This interactive, case-based, small-group activity was incorporated into a curriculum within an advising program but could be run independently. Before and after the session, participants completed evaluations assessing knowledge gains and attitude shifts.

RESULTS: Of 183 first-year students, 155 completed both pre- and postmodule surveys. Participants' rating increased on the postmodule survey item "priority should be given to the discussion of EDH in medical education." The Wilcoxon signed rank test determined this difference in priority was statistically significant (

DISCUSSION: Climate change remains the greatest global threat to human health, and future physicians must be equipped to educate patients and policymakers on the harms of environmental hazards. This brief yet effective module offers one approach to incorporating this topic into medical school curricula.

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