Back row (left to right): Sharan Jayachandran, Alex Mortensen, Erik Clutter, Kimmi Eden, Katie Rose, Vivian Wang, Harrison Shurr
Front row (left to right): Michael Mastrogiovanni, Haley Kopkau, Courtney Clark, Erin Kokoszka, Karissa Gawronski
Authored By: Vivian Wang (M2, Class of 2022), member of the CMED Student Environmental Committee
How much thought do you give to the plastic fork you use at lunch? Or the coffee you drink every day? How about your commute to school or work?
It is easy to ignore how our daily activities contribute to our carbon footprint. Culturally, Americans favor convenience in almost every way. We are concerned with getting something from Amazon in two days rather than the fossil fuels that were used to bring it to our door. We think of how we want to get somewhere quickly and jump into our car instead of the gas we use to get there. We need our daily cup of coffee to function in the morning, but don’t think about what happens to our cup after we throw it away.
Our impacts are difficult to see at the individual level. However, the environmental consequences of our actions are not distributed equally, and those who bear the burden are at a disadvantage. People living in megacities or living near the equator are reporting record highs of not only temperature, but also infectious diseases, heat strokes, and even mental health illnesses. With warmer oceans comes more extreme weather, resulting in infrastructure destruction, displaced coastal and island communities, and lack of reliable access to healthcare.
The fact that we don’t always have regular interactions with these communities makes it easier for us to continue our habits, but current trends will only increase the number of people that will be affected. For example, farming communities rely on regular rainfall and are already seeing declines in har
vests as flash floods and droughts threaten food security and access to nutrition. Even right here in Michigan, farmers are struggling to plant corn, wheat, and soy seeds in the soil, drenched from record heavy rainfalls.
No matter where you live, the environment and human health are undeniably closely and inextricably interdependent. It is impossible to ignore the impacts that climate change, waste, air quality, all have on our health, just to name a few. As future healthcare providers, we need to be cognizant of these issues and it starts with understanding the significance of environmental impact alongside human health.
Medical students are masters at delayed gratification when it comes to our studies but have much to improve on as environmental citizens. That’s why we have launched the new CMED Environmental Committee. We aim to get our students thinking about our actions as part of a much larger picture. We can start small, whether that means bring your own reusable coffee mug to the shop, or walking to class instead of driving, and then challenge our doctors in training to forgo convenience for sustainability. Future physicians should be concerned with minimizing adverse health outcomes for their patients both in the clinic as well as out in the community. We need to be drivers of positive change and role models for the communities that we will one day serve. So, we ask of you, what kinds of changes can you start making today?