Education
“We aim to prepare future physicians to cope with complex and severe public health problems , including the biggest global health threat of the 21st century: climate change”
Health care is making a transition towards a system with more focus on prevention and population health and bridging the gap between the medical and social domains. This transition is urgently needed to cope with various complex and severe public health problems, including the biggest global health threat of the 21st century: climate change. Physicians should be equipped to address these problems in collaboration with other disciplines and should be able to lead the way towards accessible and sustainable health care for current and future generations.
The Education and Training section of our department aims to prepare future physicians for their tasks in a changing environment. We provide education in population health aspects (e.g. social determinants of health, prevention, planetary health, health care efficiency and sustainable health care) and training in preventative and collaborative skills (e.g. health education, vaccination, screening, shared decision making, team collaboration and social medicine). We develop and implement novel teaching methods, including blended, experiential, and community service learning.
Highlight
Best education department of Erasmus MC
Every 5 years the medical students of Erasmus MC select one department as best education department. In 2022 we received this award for our education in the years 2018-2022. The students praised our education on population health and interprofessional collaboration and our very stimulating innovations introducing novel relevant health topics and various interactive teaching methods engaging them with patients, other professions and society at large.
Planetary health education
Education is urgently needed to equip medical students with knowledge, values and skills to promote planetary health. In cocreation with frontrunning students, our department leads the implementation of planetary health education in the medical curriculum of Erasmus MC. In 2023 we introduced a novel serious game that addresses climate change and health as part of our bachelor program. After the game, a significant increase was found in knowledge, climate worry and the proportion of students recognizing the importance of climate change education. The serious game is an accessible, interactive and engaging tool to teach the complexity of climate change and health.

Section: Education





