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Emory Medical School’s administration is making climate change a formal part of its curriculum.
It’s the culmination of several years of student-led efforts to ensure Emory’s future doctors learn about the growing health impacts of a warming planet, because climate change doesn’t just bring hotter weather and more extreme storms. It also makes many health issues worse – issues doctors need to recognize and treat.
“As we were going through our lectures, in our first year, we noticed that there really was no mention of some of the health risks of climate change,” said Ben Rabin, now a fourth-year medical student at Emory, located in Atlanta.
He and classmate Emaline Laney raised this concern, and got to work. They went through the first- and second-year medical school curriculum to find places to weave in climate change.
“For example, we learn a lot about kidney injury, and kidney failure,” Rabin said. “So we wanted to talk about what are some of the risks of extreme heat?” It’s easier to get dehydrated when it’s very hot, he exp... Read more
