Healthcare is constantly evolving. New trends, technologies, and fields reshape how clinicians practice and how health systems deliver care. One of the most urgent emerging disciplines is Climate Medicine.
This guide explains what Climate Medicine is, and why it’s no longer optional, but an essential skill for practicing medicine in today’s world. It also highlights the Climate & Health program at the University of Colorado Anschutz, a national leader in training clinicians, sustainability leaders, and health system professionals about climate-informed care.
What is Climate Medicine?
Climate Medicine focuses on the connection between environmental change and human health. Specifically, it offers a comprehensive understanding of how climate change impacts health, spanning clinical care, systems leadership, communication, and policy.
It ensures clinicians are equipped to educate patients about potential environmental risks to their health and the precautions they can take.
In addition, Climate Medicine explores the role of healthcare systems as significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. It focuses on developing climate-smart practices, improving operational efficiency, and increasing resilience of healthcare infrastructure to extreme heat, flooding, severe storms, and power disruptions.
Why Climate Medicine Matters
Climate literacy in healthcare is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a foundational skill for the 21st century.
Clinicians are already seeing the health effects of climate change in exam rooms, emergency departments, and community clinics. These are not distant or theoretical risks. They are showing up in real patients every day.
For example:
- Heat-related illness, including heat exhaustion and heatstroke, during prolonged heat waves
- Worsening asthma and other respiratory conditions due to wildfire smoke and poor air quality
- The spread of vector-borne diseases, such as ticks and mosquitoes expand into new regions
- Injuries and acute illness related to floods, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events
- Mental health impacts such as anxiety, depression, and chronic stress after traumatic weather events or climate-related losses, including losing a home to a fire or flood
Without education in Climate Medicine, clinicians may not immediately recognize these environmental determinants of health. Specialized training strengthens clinical assessment and supports more effective treatment plans. It is especially critical for protecting vulnerable populations who are often disproportionately affected by climate-related health threats.
Climate Medicine also trains leaders to drive sustainability and efficiency within healthcare systems. By addressing emissions from operations, energy, and supply chains, climate-smart leaders can limit emissions, reduce costs, and prioritize their commitment to community health.
This may include reducing waste, increasing renewable energy usage, upgrading to more efficient systems and appliances, encouraging telemedicine, and increasing plant-forward menus. Facilities may also need upgrading to withstand hotter temperatures, protect critical equipment from basement flooding, and plan for an on-site power supply through solar generation and battery storage in case of a sustained power outage caused by a disaster.
It is incumbent upon healthcare systems not only to effectively treat patients who are impacted by climate change but to prioritize reducing their environmental impact and to protect the communities they serve.
The University of Colorado Diploma in Climate Medicine
The Climate & Health Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz is a leader in educating and empowering physicians on one of the greatest global health challenges of today. The mission of the program is to further the understanding of the impact that climate change has on human health and to advocate for smart policy that addresses the ongoing climate crisis.
Through its Diploma in Climate Medicine, the University of Colorado Climate & Health program trains leaders to advocate for climate-resilient, patient-centered policies that serve diverse communities and systems. The Diploma brings climate science, environmental health, clinical care, health systems leadership, communication, and policy into one. It helps clinicians turn concern into action.
The Diploma in Climate Medicine is open to all healthcare professionals with an advanced degree and licensure in any area of clinical practice, as well as public health practitioners, nonprofit leaders, and sustainability managers. It is a CME-accredited professional leadership program composed of five distinct Certificates.
- Foundations in Climate Medicine
- Sustainable Healthcare
- Disaster Resilience and Response
- Community Resilience
- Global Challenges
Many participants complete all five Certificates to earn the full Diploma, while others select individual Certificates that best match their interests or professional goals.
Each certificate is approximately 60 hours and is delivered in a hybrid format for better flexibility and engagement. This includes 30 to 35 hours of virtual self-paced learning, 9 hours of virtual live sessions, and 2 to 3 days of on-location immersive experiences to help develop skills through simulations and hands-on practice.
Participants earn 35-50 hours of CME, a certificate of completion, and a microcredential from the University of Colorado. Graduates join a robust community of practice. The 2022-2025 Impact Report offers a great overview of how program graduates are using this novel education.
Through the Diploma in Climate Medicine, the University of Colorado Anschutz is helping define the field of climate medicine and preparing clinicians to meet one of the most pressing health challenges of our time.