This is the third year that UNC School of Medicine has participated in the annual Planetary Health Report Card.
The Planetary Health Report Card is a student-driven, metric-based initiative to inspire planetary health and sustainable healthcare education engagement in medical schools. Medical students internationally can use it to grade and compare their home institutions on an annual basis. Participation has expanded to more countries and different professional schools since the report’s inception in 2020.
On Earth Day in 2023, the organization published report cards from 96 medical schools across eleven countries, including Canada, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA. The report card itself has also evolved based on feedback so that it can best reflect current knowledge, areas of development, and worldwide goals for planetary health solutions.
This is the third year that students from the UNC School of Medicine have participated in the effort and the 2022-2023 report can be found online. The full publication, including all participating schools from 2022-2023, can also be found online. For the 2022-2023 academic year, the school maintained its grade of “C” overall. Within the five categories, the school received a “C“ in curriculum, “B+“ in interdisciplinary research, “D+“ in community outreach and advocacy, “B” in support for student-led initiatives, and “C” in campus sustainability.
The report card was brought to the school through the student organization Climate Leadership and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN). To learn more about CLEAN or how to get involved, click here or email cleanmedicineunc@gmail.com.