Medical Students in Alberta Organize to Promote Environmental Health: Environmental Health Interest Group

Dec
04
2024
Environmental Health Interest Group, Calgary Medical Students' Association

Students Leading the Way on Environmental Health

Written by Maya Schimert, Executive Member, University of Calgary Environmental Health Interest Group

The Environmental Health Interest Group (EHIG) is a club led by Calgary Medical Students' Association engaging students at the University of Calgary interested in planetary health. Our aim is to increase awareness of the health implications of climate change through curriculum development, speaker events, collaborations, and advocacy opportunities. We also seek to enhance understanding of the interdependence between environmental and human health while empowering medical students and future physicians in climate advocacy. We are glad to announce that we have recently become a member of the Alberta Health Professionals for the Environment.

In August 2024, we organized Environmental Wellness Month, where students participated in eco-friendly activities for a chance to win prizes. In November, EHIG hosted an Environmental Movie Lunch for first- and second-year students, featuring a presentation by Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment about their work and ways for medical students to advocate for sustainable environmental practices.

We are currently exploring a potential collaboration with the Calgary Medical Students’ Association on shared sustainability goals, such as creating a no-waste environment. We are also working on a Planetary Health Report Card to evaluate the University of Calgary’s commitment to teaching planetary health and identify areas for improvement.

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Truth & Reconciliation at AEN

Learn more about our process and progress, and share your thoughts with us, on our Decolonization and Indigenization page.

It is our understanding at the Alberta Environmental Network that Reconciliation starts with the land, and there is no Reconciliation until we have faced the Truth. While Truth is held collectively, we recognize everyone is on their own learning journey, at their own pace. Our work at AEN focuses on the lands outlined by the Province of Alberta, lands with which we are learning to be in kinship relationship, in the nêhiyaw (Cree) spirit of treaty-making. The lands we work for are described in Treaties 4, 6, 7, 8, and 10. The traditional keepers of this land are Anishinabe, Nêhiyawak (Cree), Dené, Dane-zaa, Nakota, Îyârhe Nakoda (Stoney Nakoda), Tsuut’ina, and Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy); this land is also the homeland of the Métis. We are committed to building meaningful reciprocal relationships, to be of service particularly to those directly experiencing the effects of oppression, genocide, and exploitation.