Medical student attitudes toward healthcare sustainability education at a multi-site private United States medical school
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63697/jeshs.2025.10046Keywords:
Medical education, Environmental education, Sustainable healthcare, Climate change, Planetary healthAbstract
Climate change and healthcare’s environmental impact pose urgent global health challenges, yet little is known about how United States (U.S.) medical students view their role in advancing sustainable healthcare. This study surveyed students at a private, tri-site U.S. medical school to assess their perspectives on sustainability in medicine, its place in medical education, and its relevance to future careers. Two anonymous online surveys were distributed in January and July 2024 to all enrolled students at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, USA. Descriptive statistics and chi-square analyses assessed attitudes toward curricular needs, stakeholder responsibility, and future involvement in sustainability efforts. Students identified government regulators and healthcare administrators as holding the greatest responsibility for improving healthcare sustainability, while still attributing meaningful responsibility to physicians. Across both surveys, 88% of respondents agreed that healthcare sustainability should be taught in medical training (p < 0.001), and 62% reported insufficient education in their current curriculum (p < 0.001). Students preferred sustainability content integrated throughout the curriculum rather than delivered as isolated sessions and identified the preclinical years and residency as the most appropriate stages for this instruction. Interest in future sustainability involvement was high at 65% (p < 0.001), with students expressing interest in clinical practice, policy, advocacy, and medical education. These findings highlight strong student motivation to participate in sustainability initiatives and underscore the need for standardized, longitudinal sustainability education across medical training.
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Data Availability Statement
The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available due to the participants’ vulnerable status as learners. The blank survey questionnaire is provided in the Supporting Information.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Elisa Bass, Rachel Fisher, Suraj Puvvadi, Nisha Reddy, Ewoma Ogbaudu, Chikodi Ohaya, Dr. Neera Agrwal
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