OVC Pilots the Planetary Health Report Card on Earth Day

The Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), at the University of Guelph, has taken an important step in advancing planetary health awareness within veterinary education. 

As part of the lead team adapting the Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) to veterinary medicine and the first veterinary school in Canada to pilot the veterinary version of the PHRC, OVC is at the forefront of integrating environmental consciousness into its curriculum and practices. 

“Colleagues from the veterinary schools at Colorado State University and UC Davis invited us to assist with first adapting the report card to veterinary medicine and then launching the pilot at OVC. I knew this was something we were very interested in,” says Katie Clow, Assistant Professor in One Health in OVC’s Department of Population Medicine. 

Clow’s research focuses on the ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases and her expertise will be key to shaping the PHRC’s implementation at OVC. 

“The PHRC is a valuable tool to generate baseline data on where we stand in preparing our future graduates to deliver care in the context of the climate crisis and ensuring our activities within the institution and across campus are focused on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions,” says Clow. 

The Planetary Health Report Card Initiative (PHRC), founded in 2019 by medical students, is a metric-based tool for evaluating and enhancing planetary health content in health professional schools worldwide. At participating institutions, which now spans several allied health professions, student-led teams collaborate with faculty mentors to complete the report card. Their mission is to identify areas for improvement and engage relevant staff and faculty in the process. 

Youstina Makhlouf, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine student with a keen interest in public health, sustainable development, policy, and conservation led the coordination of the last year’s PHRC college-wide assessment. Makhlouf says that not only did the evaluation establish a baseline for OVC’s planetary health and sustainability, but it also raised some important new areas to consider in curriculum development. 

“For example, there was a question about whether your vet school talks about planetary health impacts of nutrition, and dietary feeding plans for large and small animals. Suddenly there were new options for us to explore,” says Makhlouf. 

The PHRC assesses health professional schools across five main categories:

• Planetary Health Curriculum: Evaluating the integration of planetary health concepts into the educational framework.
• Interdisciplinary Research: Recognizing collaborative efforts that bridge health, environment, and sustainability.
• Institutional Support: Gauging institutional commitment to planetary health initiatives.
• Community Outreach and Advocacy: Measuring engagement beyond the campus.
• Campus Sustainability: Assessing eco-friendly practices within the institution.

Results from each institution are compiled into an annual Earth Day report. This publication tracks institutional change over time, fostering accountability and inspiring progress. So far, the PHRC – now in its fourth evaluation cycle – has graded over 100 medical schools in 15 countries. 

On Earth Day 2024, OVC will release the inaugural Planetary Health Report Card alongside dozens of other participating institutions. This collective effort underscores the OVC’s commitment to addressing environmental changes and their impact on global health. 

A template of the veterinary medicine version will also be officially launched, which will facilitate broader uptake by veterinary teaching institutions across the globe and generate a community of veterinary teaching institutions committed to addressing the climate crisis.

“The climate crisis is an animal health crisis. Our actions in the next decade will be critical to ensure all species have a liveable future,” says Clow. 

“OVC is a global leader in One Health, so we are well positioned to be leaders in climate change mitigation, both through what we teach and model to student veterinarians, and how we conduct research and deliver care. The PHRC highlighted many opportunities for future growth and now we set our path forward for action.”