Adapting the Planetary Health Report Card for Graduate Medical Training Programs

Background Leading medical organizations recognize climate change as an urgent threat to public health and social justice. Medical students created the Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) to evaluate and spur climate action in medical schools. Graduate medical trainees lack a similar tool to evaluate and improve their training programs and institutions. Objective To adapt the PHRC to graduate medical education (GME) contexts and report preliminary validity evidence. Methods In 2023, based on literature review, we adapted the 2022 undergraduate medical PHRC metrics on curriculum and sustainability. We modified keywords in all PHRC domains to apply to GME. We recruited participants with expertise in planetary health, sustainability, and health equity affiliated with GME. Using a modified Delphi Panel method, we surveyed participants on adapted metric validity. We determined percent agreement among participants. Results We recruited 45 eligible participants, of whom 20 (44%) completed a first-round survey. Participants included a senior medical student, residents, fellows, faculty, and program directors from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Participants had a high level of agreement on metrics in the domains of curriculum, support for trainee-led initiatives, and sustainability. Some metrics in research and community engagement domains fell below the agreement threshold. Conclusions In the first round of a modified Delphi Panel survey, trainees and faculty agreed that metrics adapted from the PHRC are relevant to evaluating GME programs on planetary health, sustainability, and environmental justice.