Climate and Health Foundation Sessions

Across the globe, clinicians and healthcare providers are increasingly confronting the health consequences of climate change in everyday practice. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation are already driving heat-related illness, worsening chronic disease, disrupting care delivery, and exacerbating health inequities. In this context, clinicians must be prepared not only to identify, prevent, and manage climate-related health risks, but also to contribute to efforts that reduce the health sector’s own environmental footprint.

Preparation for climate-informed care requires both a clinically competent workforce and educators who are equipped to translate emerging evidence into training and practice. Climate Medicine: A Clinical Training Program for Healthcare Educators is a comprehensive 16-session program designed to support clinical faculty and practicing clinicians, including those without formal teaching roles, in developing the knowledge, skills, and practical tools needed to integrate climate-responsive principles into medical education and day-to-day clinical care.

The course begins with foundational knowledge of climate science and health impacts, progresses through healthcare system adaptation and mitigation strategies, explores pharmacological considerations, and then features specialty-specific sessions to aid participants in translating knowledge to action. 

Course Objectives

1. Build Climate Health Literacy: Develop comprehensive understanding of how climate change affects human health through direct and indirect pathways, and the disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations
2. Equip faculty with strategies for advocacy to influence governance toward avoiding the health impacts of climate change through mitigation (halting climate change)
3. Integrate Climate Considerations into Clinical Practice: Acquire skills to incorporate climate risk assessment, climate-sensitive disease recognition, and climate-informed treatment decisions into routine patient care
4. Strengthen Healthcare System Resilience: Learn strategies for healthcare facility adaptation, emergency preparedness, and maintaining continuity of care during climate-related disruptions
5. Advance Sustainable Healthcare Practices: Implement evidence-based approaches to reduce healthcare's environmental footprint while improving patient care and promoting health equity