The Planetary Health Report Card: evaluation of the integration of principles of sustainable healthcare into a new graduate entry medical programme

Abstract

Nationally and internationally, medical students have a strong track record of engagement with sustainability and sustainable healthcare, notably through the development and implementation of the student-led international Planetary Heath Report Card initiative. The Medical Schools Council has endorsed a specific curriculum statement for integration of aspects of sustainable healthcare into undergraduate teaching and the General Medical Council has included the topic in Outcomes for Graduates. The Three Counties Medical School (TCMS) is a new medical school admitting its inaugural cohort in September 2023, and we are committed to supporting the development of doctors who are socially responsible, global citizens. We used the Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) to complete the first loop of an evaluation of the new TCMS MBChB degree programme. Generally, the PHRC is used by medical schools around the world to score, and ultimately rank, performance in integrating aspects of sustainability in health into teaching and learning. We used the PHRC to help evaluate our curriculum planning to date and in so doing highlighted areas we might not otherwise have considered. This project was part of the University of Worcester Green Impact Project scheme, which funded a student-assessor (a GIPA) to participate with us in evaluating our progress, seek out gaps and use the tool to plan the next steps in curriculum design.