We offer many elective courses during the senior year to best serve each student’s individual needs and goals. Students with well-defined career goals and those who are still in the process of choosing a specific area to focus on have a wide assortment of electives to choose from. Most courses are two or four weeks in duration.
Students are also encouraged to approach faculty members for the development of unique courses.
| Department: | Medical Education |
|---|---|
| Course Number: | MEDED-4018 |
| Course Name: | Global & Planetary Health |
| Instructors: | Dr. Lorraine Thibodeau |
| Course Description: | Prerequesites: Over the course of 4th year clinical rotations, students should be watchful for patients whose presentation is influenced by environmental factors. Please take note of such patients (including their identifying information for later recall) and be prepared to discuss one example with the class. Examples include: respiratory or cardiovascular illness exacerbated by pollution or heat, environmental exposure to toxins such as lead, infectious diseases outside of their typical range. Feel free to be creative! This elective will focus on the intersection of planetary and human health. Through lectures, online modules, case-based discussions, and clinical work students will explore the effects of climate change on health and ways in which physicians can recognize and address these new challenges. Students will also learn about environmental justice and will have the opportunity to participate in advocacy work in the community and at the Capital. Finally, each student will create a brief presentation on a topic of interest to share with the class. |
| Educational Objectives: | By the end of this clerkship, students will be able to 1. Understand the relationship between human health and the natural environment on which it depends, recognizing anthropogenic dangers and threats. 2. Educate and counsel patients with anticipatory guidance and mitigation strategies related to environmental and climate-caused factors. 3. Explain the concept of environmental justice and its manifestations in the present-day United States. 4. Describe why vulnerable populations are disproportionately impacted by climate change both globally and in the US. 5. Participate in environmental health advocacy and clinical practice. 6. Investigate and a particular area of interest in planetary health and present it to the class. |
| Types of Patients: | Students will work with Dr. De Waal Maleyft, the lead physician in Environmental Health at AMC, seeing pediatric patients presenting with complaints related to environmental exposures, primarily pediatric asthma. In addition, students should pick one clinical encounter prior to their clerkship that they believe has been impacted by climate change. They will present this patient and explore further. |
| Teaching Sessions /Conferences: | Schedule provided upon request. |
| Resources /Readings: | 1. Emory Climate Crisis and Clinical Medicine Virtual Elective for Medical Students. 2. Brick Exchange Planetary Health Modules. 3. Stanford/U Washington Medicine for a Changing Planet Case Studies. |
| Evaluation Method(s): | Written Assignment, Workshop/Simulation |
| Contact Information: | Course Director: Dr. Lorraine Thibodeau, [email protected] |
| Period(s) Available: | 8 |
| Available Length: | 2 weeks |
| Max Students: | 6 |