Dataset Information

Integrating climate change and health topics into the medical curriculum - a quantitative needs assessment of medical students at Heidelberg University in Germany.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Climate change (CC) is of major importance for physicians as they are directly confronted with changing disease patterns, work in a greenhouse gas intensive sector and can be potential advocates for healthy people on a healthy planet.

Methods

We assessed third to fifth year medical students' needs to support the integration of CC topics into medical curricula. A questionnaire with 54 single choice-based items was newly designed with the following sections: role perception, knowledge test, learning needs, preference of educational strategies and demographic characteristics. It was administered online to students at Heidelberg medical faculty. Data sets were used for descriptive statistics and regression modelling.

Results

72.4% of students (N=170, 56.2% female, 76% aged 20-24 years) (strongly) agreed that physicians carry a responsibility to address CC in their work setting while only 4.7% (strongly) agreed that their current medical training had given them enough skills to do so. Knowledge was high in the area of CC, health impacts of CC, vulnerabilities and adaptation (70.1% correct answers). Knowledge gaps were greatest for health co-benefits and climate-friendly healthcare (55.5% and 16.7% of correct answers, respectively). 79.4% wanted to see CC and health included in the medical curriculum with a preference for integration into existing mandatory courses. A multilinear regression model with factors age, gender, semester, aspired work setting, political leaning, role perception and knowledge explained 45.9% of variance for learning needs.

Conclusion

The presented results encourage the integration of CC and health topics including health co-benefits and climate-friendly healthcare, as well as respective professional role development into existing mandatory courses of the medical curriculum.

SUBMITTER: Rybol L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10291352 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Integrating climate change and health topics into the medical curriculum - a quantitative needs assessment of medical students at Heidelberg University in Germany.

Rybol Leonie L Nieder Jessica J Amelung Dorothee D Hachad Hafsah H Sauerborn Rainer R Depoux Anneliese A Herrmann Alina A

GMS journal for medical education 20230515 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>Climate change (CC) is of major importance for physicians as they are directly confronted with changing disease patterns, work in a greenhouse gas intensive sector and can be potential advocates for healthy people on a healthy planet.<h4>Methods</h4>We assessed third to fifth year medical students' needs to support the integration of CC topics into medical curricula. A questionnaire with 54 single choice-based items was newly designed with the following sections: role percepti ...[more]

PMID: 37377571

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Project description:BackgroundTo address the declining numbers of general practitioners (GPs) in rural areas and a lack of medical students pursuing a career in primary care, a general practice-based curriculum coupled with additional university admissions for students has been established at three universities in Hesse, Germany. This study aims to analyze potential topics which students striving to become a GP will benefit from. Teaching such topics will prepare them for their chosen career and working in rural areas. We aimed to explore the views of both specialists and GPs on chief topics and necessary skills in primary care.MethodsIn our study we used semi-structured interviews with outpatient specialists and specialists in clinical practice and semi-structured group interviews with GPs in training. The topic guide addressed contents of the curriculum for medical students with an extracurricular focus (addressing additional topics) on primary care. Data analysis was carried out using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.ResultsGPs in training and specialists agreed on the importance of knowledge in the fields of medical history, physical examination, communication as well as common diseases in primary care. Essential competences mentioned were: inducing medical treatment, decision-making and triage, conducting structured conversations, having patient knowledge (hard skills) as well as an interest in continuous learning, empathy, personal commitment, listening and down-to-earthness (soft skills). Case reports, symptom-based learning, practical training, lessons with simulated patients and the integration of role models were regarded as useful teaching methods.ConclusionsGeneral practice-based curriculums should not only focus on the transfer of knowledge. Equally important is the training of soft and hard skills to prepare future GPs for their work in primary care. Special teaching methods as well as practical training should be the heart of a newly established curriculum.

Project description:ObjectiveClimate change constitutes a major challenge. The higher education sector plays an important role in regard to climate change and the adaptation to its consequences. Various approaches toward the integration of environmental subject areas to higher education teaching have already been described in other studies, but there is a lack of data supporting the effectiveness of these approaches in changing not only the environmental knowledge of students, but also their awareness. To address this, the present study tracked whether student attitudes about the environment could be changed by implicitly addressing medically relevant environmental topics as part of an online seminar.MethodsSecond semester students of molecular medicine attending a mandatory 14-hour online seminar, which was required to obtain additive key qualifications and which consisted of independent study phases as well as online class meetings, were divided into two groups: the intervention group (IG, n=27, thereof 20 in the pretest and 21 in the posttest) was exposed to medically relevant environmental topics, while the comparison group (CG, n=26, thereof 22 in the pretest and 21 in the posttest) was exposed to general, non-environmental medical topics. Surveys were conducted with standardized questionnaires before and after the seminar in order to study the influence on the students' environmental knowledge, awareness and other personal attitudes.ResultsWhile the seminar did not significantly change the environmental awareness in either group, the environmental knowledge of the IG was significantly increased by the group's exposure to environmental topics. In addition, the IG assessed its own environmental awareness regarding sustainable working methods in a laboratory as significantly higher after the seminar than the CG did, and some students of the IG had become more interested in issues relating to sustainability.ConclusionThe approach used to communicate environmental content mainly increased the environmental knowledge of students and piqued the interest of some students in climate-related and environmental topics. However, it was not possible to change deeper personal attitudes about environmental awareness, especially everyday behavior.

Project description:ObjectiveImprovements in clinical pain care have not matched advances in scientific knowledge, and innovations in medical education are needed. Several streams of evidence indicate that pain education needs to address both the affective and cognitive dimensions of pain. Our aim was to design and deliver a new course in pain establishing foundation-level knowledge while comprehensively addressing the emotional development needs in this area.SettingOne hundred eighteen first-year medical students at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.Outcome measuresPerformance was measured by multiple-choice tests of pain knowledge, attendance, reflective pain portfolios, and satisfaction measures.ResultsDomains of competence in pain knowledge included central and peripheral pain signalling, pharmacological management of pain with standard analgesic medications, neuromodulating agents, and opioids; cancer pain, musculoskeletal pain, nociceptive, inflammatory, neuropathic, geriatric, and pediatric pain. Socio-emotional development (portfolio) work focused on increasing awareness of pain affect in self and others, and on enhancing the commitment to excellence in pain care. Reflections included observations on a brief pain experience (cold pressor test), the multidimensionality of pain, the role of empathy and compassion in medical care, the positive characteristics of pain-care role models, the complex feelings engendered by pain and addiction including frustration and disappointment, and aspirations and commitments in clinical medicine. The students completing feedback expressed high levels of interest in pain medicine as a result of the course.DiscussionWe conclude that a 4-day pain course incorporating sessions with pain specialists, pain medicine knowledge, and design-built elements to strengthen emotional skills is an effective educational approach.SummaryInnovations in medical education about pain are needed. Our aim was to design and deliver a new course for medical students addressing both the affective and cognitive dimensions of pain. Combining small-group sessions with pain specialists, active-learning approaches to pain knowledge, and design-built elements to strengthen emotional skills was highly effective.

Dataset Information

Integrating climate change and health topics into the medical curriculum - a quantitative needs assessment of medical students at Heidelberg University in Germany.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Integrating climate change and health topics into the medical curriculum - a quantitative needs assessment of medical students at Heidelberg University in Germany.

Similar Datasets

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