By Megumi Barclay
Just two years after Pitt established the Office of Sustainability in the Health Sciences, the School of Medicine is making great strides. On the latest Planetary Health Report Card, the School of Medicine earned an A- in curriculum—a major improvement from the first report card the school participated in, in 2023, when it received a D.
“This is a spectacular external validation of much of what we’ve done,” in the two years since the office was created, said Mike Boninger, associate dean for sustainability, health sciences.
Founded in 2019, the Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) is a student-driven, metric-based evaluation tool that assesses how well health professional schools incorporate planetary health and sustainability into their programs. At each participating institution, student-led teams of two to six students complete the report card over several months, identifying gaps in the curriculum and opportunities for improvement while consulting faculty to verify content.
Grades are based on structured student responses to standardized metrics. For each question, students assign a numerical score—typically on a 0–3 scale—based on defined criteria, then provide supporting evidence. Examples of questions include: “How well does your curriculum address the effects of extreme weather on health?” These responses then undergo two rounds of feedback from PHRC leadership, ensuring clarity, accuracy and sufficient justification before final submission.
Results are released annually on Earth Day, April 22, with this year’s results including 216 participating schools across 29 universities worldwide.
Much of the progress for Pitt Health Sciences has been driven by targeted integration of sustainability into existing courses. Lola Conti, project coordinator for the Office of Sustainability in the Health Sciences, and Noe Woods, assistant dean for sustainability, School of Medicine, work closely with course directors to identify natural connections between planetary health and course content. Rather than overhauling entire courses, faculty are encouraged to incorporate smaller, relevant additions—such as case studies, slides or discussion topics.
For example, someone already teaching about infectious diseases could add a slide on the emergence of intensifying infectious diseases due to climate change. Currently, the pulmonology block includes content on respiratory health and air pollution, with a focus on Pittsburgh’s local environment, as well as the environmental impact of health care practices like metered-dose inhalers.
Outside the core curriculum, Woods leads an elective during flex week that includes tours of landfills, cooking classes and lectures on sustainability in health care. A newer initiative, the Planetary Health in Practice interprofessional course led by Corey Flynn, director of the Office of Sustainability in the Health Sciences, offers students across the health sciences opportunities to engage with sustainability through field experiences (shown in photo), discussions, cooking classes and speakers at no additional cost.
Following the School of Medicine’s lead, other Pitt Health Sciences programs—including the Schools of Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, and Health and Rehabilitation Sciences—have also participated in the report card. Dental Medicine, now in its second year, is introducing a two-hour sustainability session into its Foundations for Person-Centered Care course this fall, combining a lecture on sustainable dentistry with an interactive activity on applying these principles in practice.
Looking ahead, Conti is optimistic about continued progress across all health sciences schools. “Low report card scores do not mean a curriculum is ineffective or lacking; it just shows us there is an opportunity for improvement in addressing our constantly changing world,” she said. “We have amazing, passionate faculty, staff and students in each health science school at Pitt that see sustainability as something we can all work together on, and I am excited to see where the Planetary Health Report Card takes us in achieving this vision.”