Preparing health students for climate change: the impact of an innovative ‘Plan Health Faire’ course

Abstract Introduction Recent studies highlighted the need for climate change (CC) training in universities, especially for health students. In France, a collaborative teaching program, “Plan Health Faire” (PHF), addresses this need. This study aimed to assess PHF’s impact on health students’ reactions, knowledge, and behaviour. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out among all second-year health students enrolled in Medicine, Pharmacy, Odontology, and Maieutics at the University of Poitiers in September 2022. During a mandatory seminar, all students took part in the innovative and scientific PHF teaching program which aims to raise awareness of the challenges of CC as applied to healthcare. Two structured questionnaires based on the Kirkpatrick evaluation model were administered before and after the course. Using a comparative statistical analysis, the changes in students’ knowledge were assessed. Results In all, 294 students took part in the study, and 97.4% were satisfied or very satisfied with PHF. An average score of 8.6/10 was given to the collaborative dynamics of the training. In terms of changes in their level of knowledge and their perception of these changes, 98.3% of students felt that they had learned new knowledge about CC and healthcare. A comparative analysis of the answers to the knowledge questions showed that students’ level of knowledge is indeed significantly higher at the end of the course (p<0.0001). Finally, 94% of students expressed their probable or certain intention to integrate these issues into their future professional practice. Conclusions These results indicate that the PHF training program has a significant impact on health students, particularly in terms of satisfaction and knowledge. PHF could be an interesting way to teach health students about the challenges of CC in healthcare. PHF is currently tested in other French Universities and health care facilities. Key messages • Plan Health Faire is an innovative and collaborative educational program aimed at raising awareness among healthcare stakeholders about the challenges of climate change. • Plan Health Faire is an effective program for raising awareness among health students about climate change and is also an interesting lever for integrating climate change into their future practice.