[Environmental health: an educational need for Peruvian physicians]

The implementation of courses related to environmental health in undergraduate curricula favors the formation of physicians more committed to the impact of climate change on health. The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence of environmental health courses in Peruvian medical schools, as well as their comparison with air quality levels for each region of the country.

Methods: A descriptive study was carried out. We searched the web page of the National Superintendence of University Higher Education (SUNEDU) of Peru and selected those universities with registered human medicine faculties. We analyzed whether they included in their curriculum a course related to environmental medicine and compared it with the levels of air quality (particulate matter) for each region.

Of 41 medical schools included, 26 (63.4%) of them included a course related to environmental health in their curriculum, and 2 (7.7%) of them included it as an optional course. Of the regions with a moderate/bad air quality index, 63% have medical schools with lecture courses on environmental medicine.

It is necessary to standardize the methodology, contents and teaching resources, as well as the study of relevant topics such as climate change, in addition to its integration with the other courses of the medical career given the importance of environmental health in the different regions of Peru