Blog written by the PHRC student team. 

The Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) provides students the opportunity to assess how well our health professional school integrates planetary health and sustainability into its curriculum, research, and policies. Now in its sixth cycle, the PHRC enables us to highlight strengths, find gaps, and push for improvements in environmental sustainability within healthcare education. 

This year, our team took on the challenge of completing the 2024/25 PHRC for the School of Medical Sciences. We explored areas our institution is doing well in and where there’s still improvements to be made in planetary health education. 

Meet the 2024/25 team 

A committed group of students and staff came together to gather data, assess institutional efforts, and compile the final report. This year’s team included: 

Students: 

• Noelle Caruso-Kelly (Year 1) 

• Hau Ying Yan (Year 1) 

• Yasmin Tyrrell (Intercalating after Year 4)  

• Harshini Suresh (Year 3) 

• Simonne Weeks (PhD student – Year 1) 

Faculty Mentors: 

• Dr. Helen Jopling (Deputy Head of Division of Medical Education) 

• Dr. Nia Coupe (Research Fellow, Behavioural Research UK) 

• Dr. Maggy Fostier (Academic Lead for Environmental Sustainability, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health) 

Through collaboration and shared commitment, we ensured the report card accurately reflected our institution’s approach to planetary health education and contributed to ongoing improvements. 

The four steps we took to filling in the report card were: 

Step 1 – understanding the metrics 

The PHRC includes 50 metrics that evaluate planetary health integration in curriculum, research, community engagement, and sustainability practices. We met weekly on Teams to familiarise ourselves with the scoring criteria to ensure accuracy and consistency.  

Step 2 – gathering data 

We collected information through institutional documents, course materials, and interviews with key stakeholders.  

Hau Ying enjoyed this process, noting that, “collecting data on course material that was being taught in real time opened an unexpected doorway to reflect on how I engaged with the content.” 

Step 3 – scoring and analysis 

Using the PHRC’s structured rating system, we assigned scores to each metric, ensuring they accurately represented our institution’s current efforts. We engaged in discussions to cross-check findings and verify accuracy.  

“We had some difficulty grading the metrics and there was a lot of discussion when evidence fell between the line of two grades,” Noelle explains, “but in the end, I feel the conclusions we came to were fair and accurate.” 

Step 4 – finalising and submitting  

After thoroughly reviewing the report, we submitted a draft, contributing to the international PHRC dataset that compares institutions worldwide. 

Key findings and challenges 

Our 2024/25 PHRC findings for the School of Medical Sciences highlighted key achievements as well as areas for growth. It was awarded an overall grade of C+, highlighting both strengths and areas for improvement.  

The University excels in interdisciplinary research (A-) and campus sustainability (A), but curriculum integration (C-), community outreach and advocacy (C) and support for student-led initiatives (C) require improvement. Key recommendations include integrating planetary health education more comprehensively into the core curriculum, strengthening community engagement through patient-facing materials, and enhancing support for student sustainability initiatives. 

The PHRC evaluation also faced several obstacles. One major challenge was limited data, as much of the existing teaching is informal or embedded within broader subjects. Additionally, Faculty engagement proved inconsistent, with no dedicated Faculty member responsible for overseeing planetary health education within the school.  

Addressing these challenges will require greater commitment, improved tracking of planetary health integration, and enhanced institutional support for both student initiatives and public engagement. 

The impact & next steps 

Our completed PHRC will help guide future curriculum changes and institutional policies. Faculty and students can use our findings to advocate for stronger planetary health integration in medical and healthcare education. 

Moving forward, we plan to work with Dr Maggy Fostier, Dr Helen Jopling, and Dr Nia Coupe to support changes or upcoming initiatives based on our report findings. 

Reflections from the team 

Academic mentor Dr Nia Coupe remarked, “The students’ dedication to evaluating how well we are integrating environmental sustainability into the medical curriculum has highlighted areas where we are already doing well but importantly has identified key actions we can take to better enable future healthcare professionals to advocate for planetary health.” 

For student Harshini, the PHRC experience has influenced her future steps. “The process of working on this report was incredibly insightful,” she says. “Looking into the student experience and exposure towards sustainability has inspired me to take more active steps towards creating more student advocacy for sustainability – especially due to its large effect on human health!” 

A call to action 

The PHRC is a powerful tool, but lasting change requires ongoing student and Faculty involvement. If you care about planetary health, consider joining next year’s PHRC team or getting involved in sustainability efforts on campus. 

For more information on planetary health at University of Manchester, explore the Environmental Sustainability Good Newsletter. To sign up for future editions, email srbmh@manchester.ac.uk. 

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