Bridges to Access 2022: The Impact of an Interdisciplinary, Educational Conference About Climate-Related Health Effects and Climate Disparities on Pre-Health and Health Professional Student Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Beliefs

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Bridges to Access (B2A) is an annual, free, student-led, interdisciplinary conference that aims to educate health students on important health issues, with a particular focus on issues affecting underserved communities. In 2022, B2A centered on the health effects of climate change and associated inequities. The effectiveness of this educational model was evaluated with a descriptive and statistical analysis of 177 pre- and post-conference survey responses from pre-health and health professional students. A paired t-test (α=0.05) showed that students had an increased understanding of and perceived ability to teach others about climate-related health effects, climate injustice, health system level impacts, and causative factors of climate change, and the analysis demonstrated a statistically significant increase in their concern for the effects of climate change on health (p-values <0.0001). These results provide evidence to support the benefit and validity this model has for educating health students on climate change-related health topics. While further studies are required, B2A can serve as an adaptable model other academic institutions can use as they seek to incorporate health and climate education into their curricula.

Author(s):

  • Brandon William Moritz, BS, Medical Student, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
  • Alice Moon, BS, Medical Student, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
  • Willa Xie, BA, Medical Student, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
  • Joy Suh, BA, Medical Student, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine