| Incorporating Environmental Health into Pediatric Medical and Nursing Education Leyla Erk McCurdy,1 James Roberts,2 Bonnie Rogers,3 Rebecca Love,1 Ruth Etzel,4 Jerome Paulson,5 Nsedu Obot Witherspoon,5 and Allen Dearry6 1National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, Washington, DC, USA; 2Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA; 3University of North Carolina School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; 4George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, USA; 5Children's Environmental Health Network, Washington, DC, USA; 6National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA Abstract
Pediatric medical and nursing education currently lacks the environmental health content necessary to appropriately prepare pediatric health care professionals to prevent, recognize, manage, and treat environmental-exposure-related disease. Leading health institutions have recognized the need for improvements in health professionals' environmental health education. Parents are seeking answers about the impact of environmental toxicants on their children. Given the biologic, psychological, and social differences between children and adults, there is a need for environmental health education specific to children. The National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, in partnership with the Children's Environmental Health Network, created two working groups, one with expertise in medical education and one with expertise in nursing education. The working groups reviewed the transition from undergraduate student to professional to assess where in those processes pediatric environmental health could be emphasized. The medical education working group recommended increasing education about children's environmental health in the medical school curricula, in residency training, and in continuing medical education. The group also recommended the expansion of fellowship training in children's environmental health. Similarly, the nursing working group recommended increasing children's environmental health content at the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing nursing education levels. Working groups also identified the key medical and nursing organizations that would be important in leveraging these changes. A concerted effort to prioritize pediatric environmental health by governmental organizations and foundations is essential in providing the resources and expertise to set policy and provide the tools for teaching pediatric environmental health to health care providers. Key words: education, environmental health, medical student, nursing, nursing student, pediatrics, resident. Environ Health Perspect 112: 1755-1760 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.7166 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 23 September 2004]
Address correspondence to L.E. McCurdy, National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, 1707 H St. NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20006 USA. Telephone: (202) 261-6488. Fax: (202) 261-6464. E-mail: mccurdy@neetf.org This report has been generated through a partnership between the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation and the Children's Environmental Health Network. Support for this project is made possible through a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 8 April 2004 ; accepted 23 September 2004.
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |
