Every medical school should have a planetary health teaching fellow

Are medical students being prepared for the global health crisis due to the climate emergency? The evidence becomes more sobering and visceral each year. Unless we keep global temperatures below 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels, unprecedented environmental shocks will increase in intensity and frequency taking a great toll on all life on Earth.12 The heatwaves that we have experienced recently around the world, which will likely cause thousands of excess deaths, are a stark reminder of the fragility of human health in the context of more extreme climatic conditions. In recent years there has been considerable academic momentum behind planetary health and healthcare sustainability. However, medical students often receive little or no education on these important topics.345Planetary health is a relatively new concept and refers to the interconnectedness between human health and the health of the planet’s living and non-living systems.6 Healthcare sustainability has been gathering traction for well over…
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