ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Planetary Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1593332
Student challenges and successes in integration of planetary health in medical education: a mixed methods analysis
Provisionally accepted
Kanika Malani1*
Emily Yamron2Kate Tokareva3Taylor Brewer4Alexander Northrop5Lauren Franklin6
Kyle Martin1- 1Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, United States
- 2Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, New York, United States
- 3School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States
- 4School of Medicine and Health Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
- 5Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, New York, United States
- 6School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Keele University, Newcastle-under-Lyme, United Kingdom
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Introduction: This study evaluates challenges and successes faced by medical students leading planetary health (PH) curriculum reform and tracks changes over time. Methods: The Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) is a standardized, metric-based tool for assessing PH education in medical schools. In October 2023, a survey was emailed to 132 medical students across 52 U.S. institutions who had served as primary contacts for their school's most recent PHRC between 2020 and 2023. The survey explored challenges and successes in integrating PH into the curriculum. A total of 31 students from 17 U.S. states responded. All respondents were invited to follow-up Zoom interviews, with 11 completing them. Survey and interview data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and directed content analysis, while longitudinal PHRC data were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests.Results: Students are primary stakeholders in PH integration (N=28, 90%). While other stakeholders were perceived as generally supportive, surveyed students felt these groups were less likely to lead PH curricular reform and may lack confidence in delivering PH content (N=7, 70.0%). Interviewees (N=11) noted various obstacles and suggested potential solutions to improve PH integration into medical curricula. Discussion: Medical schools should prioritize developing longitudinal, course-specific PH education, supported by both individual institutions and national frameworks and licensing organizations.
Keywords: Planetary health, Climate health, Medical Education, medical curriculum, Climate Change
Received: 13 Mar 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Malani, Yamron, Tokareva, Brewer, Northrop, Franklin and Martin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Kanika Malani, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.