Healthcare Students
You are never too junior to make a difference
Why Is Climate Change Relevant to Healthcare Students?
As healthcare students, you are the clinicians, nurses and pharmacists of the future. Your careers will likely span the length of the international decarbonisation process and you will be on the "front-line" as the world is hit with worsening extreme weather events, pandemics and refugee crises due to climate change.
You should therefore have a say in what type of future you wish to work in and be prepared for changing disease presentations due to climate change.
Familiarise yourself with the rest of Our Health, Our Planet for an overview of how climate change will affect the different specialties and professions you might work in.
Healthcare students often already have a huge amount of stress. Have a look at our information on Mental Health and Climate Change page and be sure to seek support if you need it.
What Can Students Really Do Though?
A lot! They can change entire departments and systems!
As seen since the 2019 school climate strikes, students are natural leaders in sustainability. Students have led projects removing single-use items in departments and drives to raise awareness of energy consumption of equipment in hospitals.
At University, many Healthcare Sustainability Societies are being formed, with educational and activism sessions on climate change and health. See how your University is doing on the Planetary Health Report Card (below) and encourage your university to take stronger action to reduce its environmental impact.
Crucially, students are often asked to contribute to and deliver departmental teaching sessions and engage in case-based discussions. Because there are so many areas to explore in the climate change/health relationship, you will certainly be able to bring a new topic into these discussions and generate action from this!
The Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC)
Every healthcare student is able to take part in the PHRC campaign and use the information to drive change in their institution. Click below for more information