AMEE Consensus Statement: Planetary health and education for sustainable healthcare

Abstract

The purpose of this Consensus Statement is to provide a global, collaborative, representative and inclusive vision for educating an interprofessional healthcare workforce that can deliver sustainable healthcare and promote planetary health. It is intended to inform national and global accreditation standards, planning and action at the institutional level as well as highlight the role of individuals in transforming health professions education. Many countries have agreed to ‘rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes’ to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% within 10 years and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, including in healthcare. Currently, however, health professions graduates are not prepared for their roles in achieving these changes. Thus, to reduce emissions and meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), health professions education must equip undergraduates, and those already qualified, with the knowledge, skills, values, competence and confidence they need to sustainably promote the health, human rights and well-being of current and future generations, while protecting the health of the planet.

The current imperative for action on environmental issues such as climate change requires health professionals to mobilize politically as they have before, becoming strong advocates for major environmental, social and economic change. A truly ethical relationship with people and the planet that we inhabit so precariously, and to guarantee a future for the generations which follow, demands nothing less of all health professionals.

This Consensus Statement outlines the changes required in health professions education, approaches to achieve these changes and a timeline for action linked to the internationally agreed SDGs. It represents the collective vision of health professionals, educators and students from various health professions, geographic locations and cultures. ‘Consensus’ implies broad agreement amongst all individuals engaged in discussion on a specific issue, which in this instance, is agreement by all signatories of this Statement developed under the auspices of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE).

To ensure a shared understanding and to accurately convey information, we outline key terms in a glossary which accompanies this Consensus Statement (Supplementary Appendix 1). We acknowledge, however, that terms evolve and that different terms resonate variably depending on factors such as setting and audience. We define education for sustainable healthcare as the process of equipping current and future health professionals with the knowledge, values, confidence and capacity to provide environmentally sustainable services through health professions education. We define a health professional as a person who has gained a professional qualification for work in the health system, whether in healthcare delivery, public health or a management or supporting role and education as ‘the system comprising structures, curricula, faculty and activities contributing to a learning process’. This Statement is relevant to the full continuum of training – from undergraduate to postgraduate and continuing professional development.

Keywords:

• Ecological crisis
• human rights
• planetary health
• health professions education
• sustainable healthcare

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Teddie Potter, Arianne Teherani and Caroline Wellbery who have kindly shared their expertise and their time as expert reviewers.

Disclosure statement

Trevor Gibbs is President of AMEE. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emily Shaw

Emily Shaw, MBBS, DipMedEd, Newcastle University.

Sarah Walpole

Sarah Walpole, BSc, MBChB, MRCP, DipTM&H, MSc(Res), Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK; and Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, Oxford, UK.

Michelle McLean

Michelle McLean, PhD, M.Ed., FAMEE, Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia.

Carmen Alvarez-Nieto

Carmen Alvarez-Nieto, PhD, BSc, RN, PGCE. Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaen, Spain.

Stefi Barna

Stefi Barna, MPH, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, Oxford, UK.

Kate Bazin

Kate Bazin, MSc, FHEA, MCSP, King’s College London Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, Department of Physiotherapy, London, UK.

Georgia Behrens

Georgia Behrens, BA(Hons), School of Medicine, Sydney, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, Australia.

Hannah Chase

Hannah Chase, BA VetMB, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, UK.

Brett Duane

Brett Duane, BDS, MAM(Health), GCertDent, MPH, PhD, Trinity College Dublin, School of Dentistry, Dublin, Ireland.

Omnia El Omrani

Omnia El Omrani, International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, and Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt.

Marie Elf

Marie Elf, RN, PhD, MSc, Professor, School of Education, Health and social studies, Department of Nursing, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden.

Carlos A. Faerron Guzmán

Carlos A. Faerron Guzmán, MD, MSc, Planetary Health Alliance, Harvard University T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston MA, USA.

Enrique Falceto de Barros

Enrique Falceto de Barros, MD, Masters in Science Education, Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Brazil; and Working Party on the Environment Chair, World Organization of Family Doctors.

Trevor J. Gibbs

Trevor J. Gibbs, MD, DA, FRCGP, SFHEA, FAcadMed. FAMEE. Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), Dundee, Scotland, UK.

Jonny Groome

Jonny Groome, MBBS, BSc, FRCA, Greener Anaesthesia & Sustainability Project (GASP), Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.

Finola Hackett

Finola Hackett, MD, BA&Sc, University of Calgary, CFMS Health and Environment; Adaptive Response Task Force. Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Jeni Harden

Jeni Harden, PhD, MPhil, MA (Hons), University of Edinburgh Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, Edinburgh, UK.

Eleanor J. Hothersall

Eleanor J. Hothersall, BSc, MBChB, MPH, MMEd, MD, University of Dundee, Medical School, Dundee, UK.

Maca Hourihane

Maca Hourihane, MISCP, PGD (Obs. & Gyn. for Physios), PGD (Advanced Resp. Studies for Physios), IDHA, EMA, LLM. ISCP Research Officer for CPIHD and Regional Volunteer Coordinator Migration Programme for Irish Red Cross Society, Galway, Ireland.

Norma May Huss

Norma May Huss, MN, Dr Rer Med, Dip N, RGN, Faculty of Social Work, Health and Nursing, Hochschule Esslingen, Esslingen, Germany.

Moses Ikiugu

Moses Ikiugu, PhD, MA, BA, University of South Dakota School of Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Vermillion, SD, USA.

Easter Joury

Easter Joury, DDS, DOrth, MSc, PhD, MFDS RCPS, FHEA, Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.

Kathleen Leedham-Green

Kathleen Leedham-Green, BSc, MBBS, CDipAPHE, PGCert Med Ed, AF HEA, Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine, Medical Education Research Unit, London, UK.

Kristen MacKenzie-Shalders

Kristen MacKenzie-Shalders, PhD, APD, Bond University, Nutrition and Dietetics Research Group, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Gold Coast, Australia.

Diana Lynne Madden

Diana Lynne Madden, BSc(Med)Hons1, MBBS, MPH, MSc, FFPH(UK), FAFPHM, FPHAA School of Medicine, Sydney, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney, Australia.

Judy McKimm

Judy McKimm, MBA, MA(Ed), FAMEE, SFHEA, FAcadMed, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK.

Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle

Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle, MPH, PGD-Crit Care, PGD-HPE, Bach. Health Promotion, BN RN, Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg, Germany.

Margot W. Parkes

Margot W. Parkes, MBChB, MAS, PhD, Professor, School of Health Sciences and Northern Medical Program, University of Northern British Columbia, BC, Canada; and Honorary Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Sarah Peters

Sarah Peters, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, UK.

Nicole Redvers

Nicole Redvers, ND, MPH, Department of Family & Community Medicine-INMED, University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Grand Forks, ND, USA; and, Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation, Yellowknife, NT, Canada.

Perry Sheffield

Perry Sheffield, MD, MPH, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Departments of Environmental Medicine and Public Health and Pediatrics, New York City, NY, USA.

Judith Singleton

Judith Singleton, BPharm, MBA (Hons), PhD, GradCert AcadPrac, School of Clinical Sciences (Pharmacy), Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

SanYuMay Tun

SanYuMay Tun, MB BS, MSc, DIC, FHEA, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, London, UK.

Robert Woollard

Robert Woollard, MD, CCFP, FCFP, LM, Professor, Dept of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, The University of British Columbia, and Associate Director Rural Coordination Centre of BC, British Colombia, Canada.