Climate Change and Medical Education

Learn about the AAMC’s climate action and sustainability work at aamc.org/climate.

Major medical and public health professional societies and agencies have recognized anthropogenic, or human-induced, climate change as a profound and multidimensional threat to human health. Increasing research has demonstrated the disproportionate effects of climate change on people of color, Indigenous communities, and low-income populations. To better equip current and future clinicians to effectively navigate the health effects of climate change in the populations they serve, medical education curricula have begun to adapt. 

Climate Change & Planetary Health Curricula in MD Programs 

Curricular content and activities

• Climate Change, Environment, and Health: The Implementation and Initial Evaluation of a Longitudinal, Integrated Curricular Theme and Novel Competency Framework at Harvard Medical School (Harvard Medical School) 
• Climate Change Curriculum (UMass Chan Medical School) 
• GME Distinction in Climate Change, Sustainability, and Health (Columbia University) 
• A Grassroots Approach for Greener Education: An Example of a Medical Student-Driven Planetary Health Curriculum (Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University)  
• Climate Change and Medical Education: An Integrative Model (Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine)
• Climate and Health at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences) 
• A Model for Comprehensive Climate and Medical Education (Stanford University School of Medicine) 
• Asthma Exacerbation Triggered by Wildfire: A Standardized Patient Case to Integrate Climate Change Into Medical Curricula (University of Illinois College of Medicine at Urbana) 
• Climate Change as a Social Determinant of Health: An Interactive Case-Based Learning Activity (Baylor College of Medicine) 
• Policy Advocacy Workshop Tools for Training Medical Students to Act on Climate Change (University of Illinois College of Medicine and the American University of Antigua)

Curricula in the news 

• Climate Change in the Emory Medical Curriculum (Emory University School of Medicine) 
• Harvard Medical School Will Integrate Climate Change into MD Curriculum (Harvard Medical School) 

Other resources 

• Climate Change and Graduate Medical Education Supplement, Journal of Graduate Medical Education (2024)
• A Guide to Climate & Health Curriculum Reform in Medical Schools, Medical Students for a Sustainable Future (2023)
• Climate Resources For Health Education, an expert-reviewed repository of learning objectives, slides, and cases for climate change and health curricula, Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education
• Medical Schools Are Updating Their Curricula as Climate Change Becomes Impossible to Ignore, JAMA (2024)
• Medicine for a Changing Planet, Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health and the University of Washington (2023) 
• Planetary health curriculum collection, ScholarRx (2023) 
• Led by students, a nascent climate movement is taking hold in medical education, STAT (2023)

Resources from the AAMC

• Climate Action in Academic Medicine: An Overview of How Medical Schools and Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems Are Responding to Climate Change (2022)
  This report gives an overview of how medical schools and teaching hospitals and health systems are responding to climate change, based on a 4-part study conducted by the AAMC. 
• MedEdPORTAL Climate and Health Education Collection 
  This peer-reviewed collection equips educators and institutions with curricular innovations to address climate change’s growing impact on health. The included publications emphasize equitable care for all patients and communities by providing health professions educators with the tools they need to train the next generation to identify, treat, and prevent climate-related health issues.
• Academic Medicine article collection: Climate Change Education and Sustainability in Academic Medicine 
  This collection features articles published in Academic Medicine on the importance of teaching medical trainees about climate change and current efforts to do so, sustainability initiatives in medical education and health care, and discussions about the role of health professionals in responding to this public health crisis.
• Recent AAMCNews articles on the health effects of climate change and the climate impact of academic medicine 
  • Ozone: An unseen health threat makes a comeback with climate change (2024) 
  • Climate change hurts women more (2024)
  • Do seasonal allergies seem to be getting worse? Blame climate change (2024)
  • Drugs used in hospitals leave giant carbon footprint (2024)
  • Those wildfires this past summer? They’re still wreaking havoc on your health (2024) 
• Webinar Recording: Exploring Student Perspectives: The Current Landscape of Student-led Initiatives in Climate & Health 
  This April 2023 Building Better Curricula webinar provided an introduction on the current landscape of student-led initiatives in the field of climate change and health education in medical school curricula. The presenters, learners and trainees themselves, discussed student-led initiatives, the impetus for change in medical education, and resources to pursue longitudinal curriculum innovation as well as salient case studies to exemplify this work

National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector 

The AAMC is a member of the NAM’s Climate Collaborative, a public-private partnership of leaders from across the health system committed to addressing the sector’s environmental impact while strengthening its sustainability and resilience. 

David Skorton, MD, and Alison Whelan, MD, sit on the Health Professional Education and Communication Working Group, which is focused on empowering health workers and learners to better advocate for decarbonizing health care through education and communication that emphasize the health and equity benefits of climate action. 

Other Organizations and Initiatives 

These national organizations and initiatives promote climate action in medicine. Connect with these groups or your state or local chapter to get involved in climate change education and action. 

• Medical Students for a Sustainable Future
  Dedicated to uniting medical students and patients and providing them with tools to make a difference at their institutions and in their communities through advocacy, curriculum reform, research, and climate-smart health care. 
• Planetary Health Report Card 
  A metric-based tool for evaluating and improving planetary health content in health professions schools. Results are published in an annual Earth Day report, which helps track institutional change over time. 
• Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education 
  Focused on uniting health professions training institutions, health societies, and regional health organizations to create a global climate-ready health sector, prepared to mobilize and lead health promotion and response in the era of climate change, while restoring the health of the planet. 
• Climate Resources for Health Education
  A global health professions-led initiative that aims to provide free, publicly accessible, evidence-based resources to accelerate the incorporation of climate change and planetary health information into educational curricula. 
• Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health
  Brings together medical societies and their members to advocate for equitable climate solutions that promote the health of all people. 
• Physicians for Social Responsibility 
  A nationwide organization of doctors, health professionals, and concerned citizens, working to tackle the climate crisis. 
• George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication 
  Developed a primer to help public health professionals communicate the health implications of climate change to the public, to policy makers, and to other professionals.