P4.037: Teaching Medical Students and Pediatricians about Climate and Health: Evaluation of an Activity

Background: The medical profession is starting to incorporate climate change and health into the education for physicians. The accumulating evidence that a warming planet is having and will have on health makes this an important topic to teach pediatricians and medical students, most having no previous background in environmental health. We aim to address this educational gap by (1) developing didactic lectures on climate change and health customized for medical students and pediatricians, and (2) studying the impact of the lectures on attendees.

Methods: Based on our previous environmental health education work, we included clinical vignettes into topics on the health effects of flooding, poor air quality, and changes in insect vector distribution. Lectures were presented to 1st year medical students during a class regarding social influences on health and to pediatricians at a national meeting. A single, anonymous, post presentation questionnaire was administered online, accessible to attendees through a QR code displayed at the end of the lecture. It assessed knowledge and perspectives regarding climate change and health, and the effectiveness of the presentation.

Results: There were 81 (47% of 172 attendees) first year medical students and 13 (26% of 50 attendees) pediatricians who completed an anonymous evaluation questionnaire. From the questions regarding the climate and health knowledge assessment, the medical students’ mean score was 95.1% and the pediatricians’ mean score was 63.5% (p < 0.01). For assessing perspectives regarding climate change, we used the previously validated Global Warming’s Six Americas audience segmentation (Six Americas Super Short Survey), 93.6% of medical students and 92.3% of physicians were either “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about climate change (Figure 1). Both students and pediatricians reported satisfaction with the session overall, 8.9/10 and 8.2/10, respectively.

Conclusion: We developed lectures on climate change and health for medical student and pediatrician audiences. Based on feedback from these lectures, both medical students and pediatricians reported that they are concerned about climate change. Knowledge scores regarding climate change and health was lower for pediatricians as compared with medical students suggesting that additional education is needed for pediatricians. The lecture format is acceptable to both students and pediatricians. Future educational activities regarding climate change and health should be tailored to the learning needs and styles of pediatricians in practice to reach this group.