Planetary Health Brick Collection

This Rx Planetary Health Brick Collection focuses on the interplay between human health and the environment, equipping current and future healthcare professionals to address the impact of a shifting climate effectively.

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The Planetary Health Brick Collection

Comprehensive and High-Yield Bricks

The Planetary Health Brick Collection is a comprehensive resource for building a Planetary Health curriculum that will prepare medical students for the challenges of a changing climate and environmental pollution. Developed by ScholarRx and the Medical Student Alliance for Global Education, this collection of high-yield, interactive Bricks was edited by one of the foremost experts in the field and offers a comprehensive look at an increasingly crucial topic.

These free, open-access Bricks can be used in your courses immediately. Connect them to Respiratory, Mental Health, or Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Bricks to round out your classes and set your students up for future success.

Brick Name	Brick URL
Introduction to Planetary Health	View this Brick
Air Pollution	View this Brick
Water Quality	View this Brick
Climate Change and Health	View this Brick
Extreme Heat	View this Brick
Severe Weather Events	View this Brick
Vector Ecology and Zoonoses	View this Brick
Food and Water Security	View this Brick
Mental Health and the Environment	View this Brick
Climate Migration and Displacement	View this Brick
Climate-Related Disaster Preparedness	View this Brick
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation	View this Brick
Environmental Justice	View this Brick
Health Systems and the Environment	View this Brick

Curriculum Support for Medical Schools

Our Planetary Health Brick Collection is designed to support medical schools that are seeking to integrate Planetary Health into their curriculum. This comprehensive collection of Bricks provides a helpful, out-of-the-box solution that can be used to educate future health professionals on the relationship between human health and the environment and how to tackle the challenges that a changing climate and environmental pollution present.

Open the Planetary Health Collection

Aligned with the Planetary Health Report Card

Our Planetary Health collection of Rx Bricks is designed to empower future health professionals by providing them with the knowledge and tools needed to make a significant impact on global health challenges. This collection is in alignment with the objectives of the Planetary Health Report Card, a pioneering initiative aimed at evaluating and enhancing medical schools' focus on planetary health. The goal is to ensure that learners are not only prepared to excel academically but are also equipped to lead the charge in advocating for and implementing sustainable health practices that protect our planet and improve human health outcomes.

1. Did your medical school offer elective courses (student selected modules) to engage students in Education for Sustainable Healthcare or Planetary Health in the last year?

2. Does your medical school curriculum address the relationship between extreme heat, health risks, and climate change?

Climate Change and Health: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/climate-change-and-health
Extreme Heat: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/extreme-heat

Related Learning Objectives

Describe the dynamic interaction of elements in the climate system.
Explain how human actions contribute to a changing climate.
Identify climate-sensitive health risks.
Explain how extreme heat events are affecting health.
Describe the clinical presentations associated with extreme heat.
Discuss strategies to minimize the health effects of extreme heat.

3. Does your medical school curriculum address the impacts of extreme weather events on individual health and/or on healthcare systems?

4. Does your medical school curriculum address the impact of climate change on the changing patterns of infectious diseases?

5. Does your medical school curriculum address the respiratory health effects of climate change and air pollution?

6. Does your medical school curriculum address the cardiovascular health effects of climate change, including increased heat?

7. Does your medical school curriculum address the mental health and neuropsychological effects of environmental degradation and climate change?

8. Does your medical school curriculum address the relationships between health, individual patient food and water security, ecosystem health, and climate change?

Food and Water Security: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/food-and-water-security
Health Systems and the Environment: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/health-systems-and-the-enviroment

Related Learning Objectives

Define food and water security, including the state of food and water security worldwide.
Explain how global environmental changes impact food and water security.
Describe the components of climate-resilient health systems.
Explain the impacts of health systems on the environment.

9. Does your medical school curriculum address the outsized impact of climate change on marginalized populations such as those with low SES, women, communities of color, Indigenous communities, children, homeless populations, and older adults?

Climate Migration and Displacement: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/climate-migration-and-displacement
Environmental Justice: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/environmental-justice

Related Learning Objectives

Distinguish between the concepts of migration and displacement.
Explain how environmental changes can lead to displacement.
Identify the impact of climate migration and displacement on populations’ health.
Explain why global environmental changes have a disproportionate impact on different regions.
Identify the population groups most vulnerable to the impacts of global environmental changes.

10. Does your medical school curriculum address the unequal regional health impacts of climate change globally?

11. Does your medical school curriculum address the reproductive health effects of industry-related environmental toxins (e.g. air pollution, pesticides)?

Air Pollution: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/air-pollution
Climate Change and Health: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/climate-change-and-health

Related Learning Objectives

Describe the health effects associated with air pollution.
Explain strategies to minimize the health effects of air pollution.
Describe the dynamic interaction of elements in the climate system.
Explain how human actions contribute to a changing climate.
Identify climate-sensitive health risks.

12. Does your medical school curriculum address important human-caused environmental threats that are relevant to the university’s surrounding community?

13. To what extent does your medical school emphasize the importance of Indigenous knowledge and value systems as essential components of planetary health solutions?

14. Does your medical school curriculum address the outsized impact of anthropogenic environmental toxins on marginalized populations such as those with low SES, women, communities of color, children, homeless populations, Indigenous populations, and older adults?

Water Quality: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/water-quality
Climate Change and Health: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/climate-change-and-health

Related Learning Objectives

Define water quality, including the various harmful contaminants of fresh water.
Identify the health effects of poor-quality water.
Describe the dynamic interaction of elements in the climate system.
Explain how human actions contribute to a changing climate.

15. Does your medical school curriculum address the environmental and health co-benefits of a plant-based diet?

16. Does your medical school curriculum address the carbon footprint of healthcare systems?

17. Does your medical school curriculum cover the components of sustainable clinical practice in the core curriculum?

Health Systems and the Environment: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/health-systems-and-the-enviroment
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation: https://exchange.scholarrx.com/brick/climate-mitigation-and-adaptation

Related Learning Objectives

List strategies to promote environmentally sustainable health systems.
Explain the role of health professions in promoting environmentally sustainable health systems.
Define health co-benefits of climate mitigation and adaptation.
Identify public health interventions promoting climate mitigation and adaptation.
Explain climate resilience and ecosystem restoration.

Learn More about MeSAGE

MeSAGE is a global collaboration of student organizations working together to develop medical education content that fosters:

Clinical Excellence
Cultural Competence
Health Equity

MeSAGE is dedicated to providing student organizations with the tools to influence health professions curricula. MeSAGE aims to develop open-access content through high-yield, interactive Bricks. With the participation of student organizations from various regions around the globe, MeSAGE is the largest student-driven curriculum alliance in existence. Our members include over 1.4 million medical students from more than 130 countries.

Protect and Sustain our Health and Livelihoods

We believe that a healthy planet and healthy people are two sides of the same coin. The WHO stated, “Climate change is the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century.” This is why our Planetary Health Brick Collection is dedicated to helping medical schools protect and sustain our health and livelihoods through a comprehensive curriculum on planetary health. With this collection of Bricks, you can be sure that your medical students are prepared for the future.

By the Numbers

Human activities have led to various global environmental changes, many of which have led to global disruptions of Earth's natural systems, like climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, biodiversity loss, and pollution. They have also led to:

Million Premature Deaths

per year

Global Deaths

linked to modifiable environmental risks

Planetary Boundaries Exceeded

as of 2022

The World Health Organization estimates that 13 - 32% of the global disease burden is attributable to environmental determinants of health.

"The health gains achieved in the past 50 years of global economic development could be reversed by 2050 due to the consequences of climate change."

Planetary Health Brick Collection

The Planetary Health Brick Collection

Comprehensive and High-Yield Bricks

Introduction to Planetary Health

Air Pollution

Water Quality

Climate Change and Health

Extreme Heat

Severe Weather Events

Vector Ecology and Zoonoses

Food and Water Security

Mental Health and the Environment

Climate Migration and Displacement

Climate-Related Disaster Preparedness

Climate Mitigation and Adaptation

Environmental Justice

Health Systems and the Environment

Curriculum Support for Medical Schools

Aligned with the Planetary Health Report Card

Protect and Sustain our Health and Livelihoods

By the Numbers

Million Premature Deaths

Global Deaths

Planetary Boundaries Exceeded

― The Lancet Commission