Bringing Sustainable Healthcare into the Undergraduate Curriculum
The 2018 Sustainable Healthcare Education masterclass took place in Islington on 11thSeptember 2018, organised by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH). Over 20 educators and students gathered to discuss strategies and actions for integrating planetary health and sustainable healthcare into the undergraduate medical curriculum.
A team of expert speakers in the field of sustainable healthcare led a full programme of interactive sessions. Dr Sarah Walpole Honorary Lecturer, Hull York Medical School, started the day with a thought-provoking session on the broad and interdisciplinary concept of ‘planetary health’, sparking fruitful debate on the benefits of this term, discussion on what methods could be used to make public health more relevant to undergraduates and methods of teaching a subject that cross-cuts traditional subject boundaries. Anaesthetist, Dr Cliff Shelton, followed on by giving an inspiring insight into how he engages Keele University medical students with sustainable healthcare using clinical examples and personal stories. Click on the link to browse resources that Cliff has developed.
Dr Kathleen Leedham-Green, Medical Education Fellow, Imperial College London & Dr Frances Mortimer, Medical Director, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare explained why “sustainability is the core of healthcare quality”. They introduced a number of implementation toolkits, such as SusQI(link is external), and gave examples illustrating how sustainable healthcare concepts can be integrated into quality improvement teaching.
Throughout the day there were opportunities to network and form a ‘community of practice’. Kim Croasdale from the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) commended the SDU’s regional ambassador network as an additional structure that could support the SHE community.
The conference was rounded up by getting groups of educators to consider what practical steps they would take on returning to their institutions to grow the sustainability agenda. This provided a good focus and application of the day’s learning.
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