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What do medical students know about sustainable development?

Arda Borlu (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye)
Tuğba Coşkun Aslan (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye)
Hasan Durmus (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye)
Neslihan Öner (Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye)
Ayşe Nur Tat (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Türkiye)

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education

ISSN: 1467-6370

Article publication date: 28 August 2024

Issue publication date: 15 October 2024

106

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of sustainability consciousness (SC) and sustainable development (SD) awareness of medical students, as well as to identify the factors associated with them.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted among 1,435 medical students. The socio-demographic questionnaire and the sustainability consciousness questionnaire (SCQ-L) were the data collection instruments.

Findings

A significant proportion of medical students had not heard of the concept of SD (63.6%), only 7.9% of the participants reported that they could define the SD concept. Female gender and good economic status were associated with significantly higher median SCQ-L total score (p = 0.001). Although all SD goals are closely related to health, almost half of the medical students reported no impact on SD. Besides, 47.8% of the medical students reported that physicians could have an active role in achieving SD.

Social implications

As the realization of SD and health services are closely linked, it is important to examine the sustainability knowledge, attitude and behavior of health professionals.

Originality/value

This study examined the SD awareness and SC knowledge, attitude and behavior among medical students, the leading health-care professionals of the future.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors conducted this study as an activity of the Tell’us Sustainable Nutrition and Health Research group established within the Erciyes University Research Dean’s Office. Therefore, the authors would like to thank the Erciyes University Research Dean’s Office for providing them with office space.

Citation

Borlu, A., Coşkun Aslan, T., Durmus, H., Öner, N. and Tat, A.N. (2024), "What do medical students know about sustainable development?", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 25 No. 7, pp. 1516-1533. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2023-0532

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © Emerald Publishing Limited

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