Climate Change and Medical Education: An Integrative Model
Medical schools face a challenge when trying to include new topics, such as climate change and health (CCH), in their curricula because of competing demands from more traditional biomedical content. At the same time, an understanding of CCH topics is crucial for physicians as they have clear implica...
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| Published in: | Academic medicine Vol. 97; no. 2; p. 188 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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United States
01.02.2022
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| ISSN: | 1938-808X, 1938-808X |
| Online Access: | Get more information |
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| Abstract | Medical schools face a challenge when trying to include new topics, such as climate change and health (CCH), in their curricula because of competing demands from more traditional biomedical content. At the same time, an understanding of CCH topics is crucial for physicians as they have clear implications for clinical practice and health care delivery. Although some medical schools have begun to incorporate CCH into curricula, the inclusion usually lacks a comprehensive framework for content and implementation. The authors propose a model for integrating CCH into medical school curricula using a practical, multistakeholder approach designed to mitigate competition for time with existing content by weaving meaningful CCH examples into current curricular activities. After the authors identified stakeholders to include in their curricular development working group, this working group determined the goals and desired outcomes of the curriculum; aligned those outcomes with the school's framework of educational objectives, competencies, and milestones; and strove to integrate CCH goals into as many existing curricular settings as possible. This article includes an illustration of the proposed model for one of the curricular goals (understanding the impacts of climate change on communities), with examples from the CCH curriculum integration that began in the fall of 2020 at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. The authors have found that this approach does minimize competition for time with existing content and allows mapping of content to existing curricular competencies and milestones, while encouraging a broad understanding of CCH in the context of individual patients, populations, and communities. This model for curricular integration can be applied to other topics such as social determinants of health, health equity, disability studies, and structural racism. |
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| AbstractList | Medical schools face a challenge when trying to include new topics, such as climate change and health (CCH), in their curricula because of competing demands from more traditional biomedical content. At the same time, an understanding of CCH topics is crucial for physicians as they have clear implications for clinical practice and health care delivery. Although some medical schools have begun to incorporate CCH into curricula, the inclusion usually lacks a comprehensive framework for content and implementation. The authors propose a model for integrating CCH into medical school curricula using a practical, multistakeholder approach designed to mitigate competition for time with existing content by weaving meaningful CCH examples into current curricular activities. After the authors identified stakeholders to include in their curricular development working group, this working group determined the goals and desired outcomes of the curriculum; aligned those outcomes with the school's framework of educational objectives, competencies, and milestones; and strove to integrate CCH goals into as many existing curricular settings as possible. This article includes an illustration of the proposed model for one of the curricular goals (understanding the impacts of climate change on communities), with examples from the CCH curriculum integration that began in the fall of 2020 at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. The authors have found that this approach does minimize competition for time with existing content and allows mapping of content to existing curricular competencies and milestones, while encouraging a broad understanding of CCH in the context of individual patients, populations, and communities. This model for curricular integration can be applied to other topics such as social determinants of health, health equity, disability studies, and structural racism.Medical schools face a challenge when trying to include new topics, such as climate change and health (CCH), in their curricula because of competing demands from more traditional biomedical content. At the same time, an understanding of CCH topics is crucial for physicians as they have clear implications for clinical practice and health care delivery. Although some medical schools have begun to incorporate CCH into curricula, the inclusion usually lacks a comprehensive framework for content and implementation. The authors propose a model for integrating CCH into medical school curricula using a practical, multistakeholder approach designed to mitigate competition for time with existing content by weaving meaningful CCH examples into current curricular activities. After the authors identified stakeholders to include in their curricular development working group, this working group determined the goals and desired outcomes of the curriculum; aligned those outcomes with the school's framework of educational objectives, competencies, and milestones; and strove to integrate CCH goals into as many existing curricular settings as possible. This article includes an illustration of the proposed model for one of the curricular goals (understanding the impacts of climate change on communities), with examples from the CCH curriculum integration that began in the fall of 2020 at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. The authors have found that this approach does minimize competition for time with existing content and allows mapping of content to existing curricular competencies and milestones, while encouraging a broad understanding of CCH in the context of individual patients, populations, and communities. This model for curricular integration can be applied to other topics such as social determinants of health, health equity, disability studies, and structural racism. Medical schools face a challenge when trying to include new topics, such as climate change and health (CCH), in their curricula because of competing demands from more traditional biomedical content. At the same time, an understanding of CCH topics is crucial for physicians as they have clear implications for clinical practice and health care delivery. Although some medical schools have begun to incorporate CCH into curricula, the inclusion usually lacks a comprehensive framework for content and implementation. The authors propose a model for integrating CCH into medical school curricula using a practical, multistakeholder approach designed to mitigate competition for time with existing content by weaving meaningful CCH examples into current curricular activities. After the authors identified stakeholders to include in their curricular development working group, this working group determined the goals and desired outcomes of the curriculum; aligned those outcomes with the school's framework of educational objectives, competencies, and milestones; and strove to integrate CCH goals into as many existing curricular settings as possible. This article includes an illustration of the proposed model for one of the curricular goals (understanding the impacts of climate change on communities), with examples from the CCH curriculum integration that began in the fall of 2020 at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. The authors have found that this approach does minimize competition for time with existing content and allows mapping of content to existing curricular competencies and milestones, while encouraging a broad understanding of CCH in the context of individual patients, populations, and communities. This model for curricular integration can be applied to other topics such as social determinants of health, health equity, disability studies, and structural racism. |
| Author | Utech, Jon Isaacson, J Harry Bernstein, Aaron Natowicz, Marvin R Lowe, Katherine E Salas, Renee N Gordon, Ilyssa O Mehta, Neil Colbert, Colleen Y Sullivan, James K |
| Author_xml | – sequence: 1 givenname: James K surname: Sullivan fullname: Sullivan, James K organization: J.K. Sullivan is a third-year medical student, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5853-1590 – sequence: 2 givenname: Katherine E surname: Lowe fullname: Lowe, Katherine E organization: K.E. Lowe is a third-year medical student, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4111-1789 – sequence: 3 givenname: Ilyssa O surname: Gordon fullname: Gordon, Ilyssa O organization: I.O. Gordon is medical director, Cleveland Clinic Sustainability, and associate professor of pathology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1893-7200 – sequence: 4 givenname: Colleen Y surname: Colbert fullname: Colbert, Colleen Y organization: C.Y. Colbert is director, Office of Educator and Scholar Development, Cleveland Clinic, and associate professor of medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2608-7218 – sequence: 5 givenname: Renee N surname: Salas fullname: Salas, Renee N organization: R.N. Salas is a Yerby Fellow, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, affiliated faculty, Harvard Global Health Institute, and assistant professor of emergency medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts – sequence: 6 givenname: Aaron surname: Bernstein fullname: Bernstein, Aaron organization: A. Bernstein is director, Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts – sequence: 7 givenname: Jon surname: Utech fullname: Utech, Jon organization: J. Utech is senior director, Cleveland Clinic Sustainability, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio – sequence: 8 givenname: Marvin R surname: Natowicz fullname: Natowicz, Marvin R organization: M.R. Natowicz is professor of pathology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio – sequence: 9 givenname: Neil surname: Mehta fullname: Mehta, Neil organization: N. Mehta is professor of medicine and associate dean, Curricular Affairs, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8342-4252 – sequence: 10 givenname: J Harry surname: Isaacson fullname: Isaacson, J Harry organization: J.H. Isaacson is professor of medicine and executive dean, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6791-7898 |
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