Medical Schools in Europe to Train on Climate Change-Related Illnesses - EcoWatch
Medical Schools in Europe to Train on Climate Change-Related Illnesses - EcoWatch
From what I can read online without a paywall block, US medical schools are moving in the direction of requiring or offering courses on climate change. I’m copying this directly from my Duck Duck Go search results:
The number of medical schools in the United States that include climate change in their curriculum has been increasing, with 65% of MD-granting schools requiring or offering courses on the topic in 2022. A survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) found that the percentage of medical schools with climate change in their curriculum increased from 27% in 2019–2020 to 55% in 2021–2022, and then to 65% in 2022.
Excerpt from this EcoWatch story:
A network of universities across Europe has launched an initiative to train medical students on climate change-related illnesses as well as provide education on more sustainable healthcare.
The initiative includes 25 universities that have formed the European Network on Climate & Health Education (ENCHE), which will incorporate climate change education into the existing curriculum. The goal is to better prepare students to treat humans facing health disparities linked to climate change as well as to improve the sustainability of the healthcare system.
“From the spread of infectious diseases to increasingly deadly heatwaves, the health impacts of climate change are becoming ever more dangerous,” Iain McInnes, co-chair of ENCHE and vice principal and Head of College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at the University of Glasgow, said in a statement. “As educators, it is our responsibility to ensure that the next generation of doctors, health professionals and medical leaders have the skills they need to face these challenges and can provide patients with the best care possible.”
The network will be led by the University of Glasgow and supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), and universities from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland and the UK will be involved in ENCHE.
Other health organizations, part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative Health Systems Task Force, will provide additional support to ENCHE. The network will serve as a regional hub for the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE) at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, with GCCHE providing collaboration and expert support for the initiative.
ENCHE has a goal to train 10,000 or more medical students on treating climate change health impacts in the first three years of the program. According to the University of Glasgow, there is not a consistent curriculum in medical schools that teaches on the links between climate change and health impacts.
This training could help save many more lives, as human health becomes increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. According to the WHO, about 99% of humans globally are exposed to air quality below WHO standards, while more than 7 million people die from air pollution-related health impacts. Rising heat is another concern, with heat-related deaths expected to triple by 2050 in a business-as-usual scenario.