Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula
Introduction: Climate change poses a major threat to public health, necessitating significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit its effects. The healthcare sector itself is a significant contributor to GHG emissions, particularly in high-income countries such as Canada and the Un...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | The Journal of Climate Change and Health |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278225000021 |
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| author | Tajdeep Brar Jordana Compagnone Sanjana Sudershan Maryam Yunus Loukman Ghouti Allen Tran Joffre Munro Babar Haroon Nabha Shetty |
| author_facet | Tajdeep Brar Jordana Compagnone Sanjana Sudershan Maryam Yunus Loukman Ghouti Allen Tran Joffre Munro Babar Haroon Nabha Shetty |
| author_sort | Tajdeep Brar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Climate change poses a major threat to public health, necessitating significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit its effects. The healthcare sector itself is a significant contributor to GHG emissions, particularly in high-income countries such as Canada and the United States. Providing medical learners with education on this topic has been identified as an important component of efforts to reduce GHG emissions; however, there is a lack of tools available both for providing education on healthcare sustainability, and for integrating this topic into postgraduate medical curricula. Case Presentation: The Planetary Health Rounds are an educational initiative aimed at integrating climate change concepts and healthcare sustainability into the Internal Medicine residency curriculum, using a case-analysis format in conjunction with the open-source HealthcareLCA Database (https://healthcarelca.com/database), a living repository of data on healthcare-associated GHG emissions. Methods: Learners conduct a case analysis of an internal medicine patient and estimate the total emissions associated with their admission, which they then present at an end-of-rotation teaching session, with discussions centering on the link between climate change and health as well as reducing emissions. Discussion: The Planetary Health Rounds, implemented in 2023, have been well-received by trainee physicians despite some challenges having been encountered. These include service demands impacting participation, a lack of emissions data for internal medicine-related care, issues with the generalizability of said data, and consistent access to a planetary health expertise during rounds. Conclusion: This initiative provides a novel way of incorporating teaching on climate change and health into postgraduate training curriculums. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-63bdd62b40b24d8a83c17e531e595644 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2667-2782 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Journal of Climate Change and Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-63bdd62b40b24d8a83c17e531e5956442025-08-20T02:56:10ZengElsevierThe Journal of Climate Change and Health2667-27822025-03-012210041210.1016/j.joclim.2025.100412Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curriculaTajdeep Brar0Jordana Compagnone1Sanjana Sudershan2Maryam Yunus3Loukman Ghouti4Allen Tran5Joffre Munro6Babar Haroon7Nabha Shetty8Dalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, Room 442, VG Site, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, Canada; Corresponding author at: Dalhousie University Internal Medicine, PGY3, 2440 Agricola Street, Unit 507, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K0J9, Canada.Dalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, Room 442, VG Site, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaDalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, Room 442, VG Site, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaDalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, Room 442, VG Site, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaDalhousie University Faculty of Medicine, 1459 Oxford Street, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, CanadaDivision of General Internal Medicine at Dalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, VG Site - 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaDivision of General Internal Medicine at Dalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, VG Site - 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaDepartment of Critical Care at Dalhousie University, QEII – Bethune Building, Suite 377, VG Site – 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaDivision of General Internal Medicine at Dalhousie University Department of Medicine, QEII - Bethune Building, VG Site - 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, CanadaIntroduction: Climate change poses a major threat to public health, necessitating significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit its effects. The healthcare sector itself is a significant contributor to GHG emissions, particularly in high-income countries such as Canada and the United States. Providing medical learners with education on this topic has been identified as an important component of efforts to reduce GHG emissions; however, there is a lack of tools available both for providing education on healthcare sustainability, and for integrating this topic into postgraduate medical curricula. Case Presentation: The Planetary Health Rounds are an educational initiative aimed at integrating climate change concepts and healthcare sustainability into the Internal Medicine residency curriculum, using a case-analysis format in conjunction with the open-source HealthcareLCA Database (https://healthcarelca.com/database), a living repository of data on healthcare-associated GHG emissions. Methods: Learners conduct a case analysis of an internal medicine patient and estimate the total emissions associated with their admission, which they then present at an end-of-rotation teaching session, with discussions centering on the link between climate change and health as well as reducing emissions. Discussion: The Planetary Health Rounds, implemented in 2023, have been well-received by trainee physicians despite some challenges having been encountered. These include service demands impacting participation, a lack of emissions data for internal medicine-related care, issues with the generalizability of said data, and consistent access to a planetary health expertise during rounds. Conclusion: This initiative provides a novel way of incorporating teaching on climate change and health into postgraduate training curriculums.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278225000021Healthcare sustainabilityMedical educationClimate change educationHealth effects of climate changeLife cycle analysis |
| spellingShingle | Tajdeep Brar Jordana Compagnone Sanjana Sudershan Maryam Yunus Loukman Ghouti Allen Tran Joffre Munro Babar Haroon Nabha Shetty Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula The Journal of Climate Change and Health Healthcare sustainability Medical education Climate change education Health effects of climate change Life cycle analysis |
| title | Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula |
| title_full | Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula |
| title_fullStr | Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula |
| title_full_unstemmed | Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula |
| title_short | Planetary Health Rounds: A novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula |
| title_sort | planetary health rounds a novel educational model for integrating healthcare sustainability education into postgraduate medical curricula |
| topic | Healthcare sustainability Medical education Climate change education Health effects of climate change Life cycle analysis |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667278225000021 |
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