AMA Calls for Climate Change Health Education in Medical Schools July 16, 2019

Photo: Joe Brusky / CC BY-NC 2.0

By Barbara Gottlieb

The American Medical Association (AMA) has adopted as official policy a call for teaching about climate change in medical schools and “across the medical education continuum.” This welcome development was spearheaded by PSR board member Todd Sack, MD FACP, with assistance from Erica Frank, MD, former PSR board member now living in Canada.

In a resolution introduced by Dr. Sack, the AMA states its support for teaching about climate change in undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education. It articulates the goal as “trainees and practicing physicians… can describe the risks that climate change poses to human health, and can counsel patients on how to protect themselves from the health risks posed by climate change.”
The AMA will also develop a slide presentation and lecture notes on climate change and health.

Congratulations—and thank you—to Dr. Sack!