Virtual Learning Decreases the Carbon Footprint of Medical Education

The environmental impact of holding in-person academic conferences and continuing medical education (CME) programs can be significant. In-person conferences provide a unique social and professional platform to engage in networking and foster professional development; however, there is an opportunity for hybrid and virtual platforms to provide CME for broader audiences looking to improve their clinical skills and strengthen their knowledge base. This study seeks to describe the reduction in carbon emissions associated with a webinar hosted by an online dermatology-focused medical education platform.

This cross-sectional study used the location of deidentified virtual attendees of a webinar to predict the carbon emissions produced if attendees had instead traveled to the location of the most recent Integrative Dermatology Symposium (Sacramento, CA). Following collection of each virtual attendee's location, the mode of transportation was predicted on the basis of each participant's distance to the conference.

The estimated carbon emissions were calculated for 576 participants. The total estimated, unadjusted carbon emissions for both attendees predicted to fly or drive was 370,100 kg CO₂. The emissions produced per participant from those expected to fly to an in-person CME after adjusting for all additional passengers on every flight were 4.5 kg CO₂. The emissions produced per participant from those expected to drive were 42.7 kg CO₂.

The use of a virtual CME webinar led to a significant reduction in travel-related carbon dioxide emissions when compared to running the same program in-person event. When accounting for all passengers traveling via plane on any flight, driving to an event produced more emissions per participant than flying.