Planetary Health and Medical Education

COURSE OVERVIEW

SCS is the first in Africa to incorporate planetary health modules in the medical curriculum with 6 ongoing modules.

OBJECTIVES

  • To imbed Planetary Health into the under and Postgraduates medical curricula (MBChB, Physiotherapy, Nursing, Psychiatry and MMed in Family Medicine)
  • To stimulate environmental stewardship
  • To improve understanding of global ecological drivers’ impact (such as Climate change) on healthcare services and patient care.

IMPACT

The teaching incorporates 6 modules and was always accompanied with a workshop to stimulate environmental stewardship for undergraduate study. In the first 3-modules, students learn on the public health consequences of the environmental crises and our personal behavior. In the last 3-modules they learn on the impact of the health system on the environment and how we can mitigate or reduce this impact. Planetary Health teachings in Physiotherapy focus on the last year. In the Master of Medicine (MMed) in Family Medicine, future family physician specialists learn to incorporate global ecological (mostly climate change) into Community Oriented Primary Health (COPC) Care approach for community and patient disease and health prevention care.

The 6 modules are:

  1. Climate Change and being and becoming a medical doctor
  2. Planetary health, forms and function
  3. planetary health and health and wellness.
  4. planetary health and dysfunction
  5. planetary health and medical detective
  6. planetary health and medical intervention.

LECTURER

Dr Christian Leume, Prof Bob Mash

AFFILIATION

Department of Family and Emergency Medicine,
Division of Family Medicine and Primary Care

LINKS

Climate Change, Migration and Health, ClimigHealth Network

Primary Health Care and Family Medicine Network for Sub-Saharan Africa, Primafamed

World Organization of Family Doctors (or World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians), WONCA

Skills

Posted on

06/10/2024