On 2nd June, the National Network of Medical School Educators of Public Health held a fantastic meeting on teaching climate change and determinants of health to medical students. The meeting was organised by the East of England Teaching Public Health Network (EETPHN), who are now planning to coordinate pilots in 5 medical schools over the coming year.
In the week before the meeting, I was joined in Oxford by medical student Sarah Walpole (now Dr. Walpole – congratulations Sarah!). Over a few days, we put together some prototype modules on climate change and determinants of health to present to the group - specifically on cardiovascular, mental health and ENT surgery. (You can find them under the library tab of the Medical Schools connection on The Climate Connection site – www.theclimateconnection.org/connections/medical-schools.) These proved a useful focus for the workshop – bringing discussion onto a practical level of how to fit with the medical curriculum and make the subject interesting and relevant.
New WHO materials were also presented by Dr Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, via a skype link from Geneva. David Pencheon chaired a session on matching training to students' future responsibilities as doctors. Mustafa Abbas from Medsin reminded everyone that students are active participants in learning, not passive recipients!
It’s really exciting to see the teaching community take this on, many congratulations to Stefi Barna and colleagues of EETPHN for getting it started.
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