Integrating Planetary Health Into Residencies: A Vital Step for Medical Education

Abstract

The escalating climate crisis necessitates that health care and medical education adapt to the increasing health impacts of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and shifting ecosystems. Patients and medical trainees are already confronting the health consequences of climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation, while health care systems grapple with effects on service delivery. These environmental challenges underscore the need for health care and medical education that is resilient and proactive in addressing emerging threats.Planetary health is a field inclusive of the effects of climate change and environmental degradation on human health and the broader systems that sustain life. Many U.S. medical schools have begun integrating planetary health into their curricula. However, without deliberate and scaffolded inclusion of planetary health education throughout graduate medical education, trainees may lack the ability to translate environmental determinants of health into actionable clinical strategies that improve patient outcomes and health care system resilience, as graduate medical education plays a pivotal role in shaping physicians' practice patterns. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which sets the standard for routine graduate medical education, has the opportunity to help prepare trainees to meet societal needs and equip them for the challenges they will encounter in their medical practice.Incorporating planetary health into the Common Program Requirements would establish a training standard for planetary health, now widely recognized as fundamental to human health. Existing ACGME priorities, such as health equity, quality improvement, systems-based practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration, align with planetary health approaches. The ACGME's endorsement of planetary health education would ensure all residents acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to address the health consequences of climate change and are prepared to practice sustainable health care, thus fostering a health care workforce capable of meeting the needs of patients and delivering resilient, sustainable, and equitable care.