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CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND PEDAGOGY article
Front. Med.
Sec. Healthcare Professions Education
Volume 11 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1438636
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Healthcare Professions Education: 2024 View all 4 articles
Prescribing sustainability: Should UN Sustainable Development Goals be part of the Medical, Pharmacy and Biomedical Education?
Provisionally accepted- 1 Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
- 2 Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium
- 3 Independent researcher, Namur, Belgium
- 4 Clinique Saint Pierre asbl, Ottignies, Belgium
- 5 Institute of Pathology and Genetics, Charleroi, Belgium
- 6 Molecular Physiology Research Unit (URPHYM), Namur, Belgium
- 7 CHU UCL Namur Site Godinne, Namur, Belgium
- 8 Institut Santé et Société, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- 9 Institut de recherche sur les médicaments de Louvain, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
Introduction: How to adapt the curriculum of medicine, pharmacy, and biomedical sciences to prepare future health professionals to meet the challenge of maintaining quality care in a period of socio-ecological crisis? Addressing connections between humanity and sustainable environment should include an analysis of the reciprocal influence of various ecosystems, since it is now clear that healthcare systems have an impact on ecosystems and vice versa. Here, we propose that integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the curriculum could be a first step in such a transversal education. Methods: Members of the faculty of medicine at the University of Namur, Belgium, including teaching staff of the department of medicine, pharmacy, biomedical sciences and psychology, were invited to respond anonymously to a questionnaire about their views on the feasibility of integrating the SDGs into their teaching. A subsequent survey on students' perceptions of such teaching was conducted by student representatives. Results: Seventy-nine percent of surveyed members of the medical faculty believe that it is possible to integrate SDGs into their lectures. However, 44% to 86% of them did not know how to integrate each individual goal. 94,4% of students would like SDGs to play a greater role in their education; 64,4% of them would integrate them into existing modules; 23,9% would create an optional module, and 11,9% would create a mandatory module. Conclusion: SDGs integration into the curriculum of medicine, pharmacy, and biomedical sciences is perceived as challenging in a dense teaching program. To clarify how SDGs can translate into traditional lectures, we provide for each SDG targeted applications for bachelor's, master's and continuing education.
Keywords: Sustainable development goals, Health, Prescription, systems thinking, pedagogy
Received: 26 May 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Wieërs, Absil, Maystadt, Nicaise, Modrie, Sibille, Melly and Dogne. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Grégoire Wieërs, Faculty of Medicine, University of Namur, Namur, B-5000, Belgium
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