HP 211 Curriculum Design for HPEd (MEMG)

Thank you for discussing this interesting topic.
Politically-driven curricula emphasize health policy, public health, and advocacy, while environmental influences push for the inclusion of topics like sustainable healthcare practices, climate-related health risks, and the impact of environment on health. Incorporating political and environmental foundations into health professions education prepares students not only as clinicians but as advocates and leaders who can respond to the political and environmental challenges impacting health.

Thank you for your presentation. Politics has a significant impact on the values and priorities included in the curriculum, which in turn shapes what students learn in school. It has the potential to either develop an improved and inclusive educational environment or, unfortunately, reinforce preexisting biases and inequities in society.

Environmental factors significantly influence curriculum design, particularly in the context of healthcare education. It is essential to emphasize diseases that are specific or endemic to a particular environment when developing a curriculum. This approach ensures that healthcare professionals are well-prepared to address the unique health challenges faced by the communities they serve.

Thank you for this discussion.
Incorporating political and environmental foundations into health professions education is important as both areas significantly influence public health outcomes and healthcare delivery systems.

2. Political influence on curricular design is somewhat inevitable, as education may be affected with societal values, governance, and national priorities. Governnent sets standards and regulations for all schools but provides different levels and forms of funding for public and private schools. The key challenge lies in balancing the need for a curriculum that reflects the country’s identity and values, while also preparing students for a diverse, globalized world, and ensuring that education remains a tool for empowerment rather than control. Perhaps one example of political influence in education, changing history or important events that had happened in the Philippines ex. The attempt to remove martial law in the text book.
3. Regarding environmental influence, there is now a recommendation to integrate environmental issues to curriculum including training. Because of the call to action of united, the FIGO advocates this call and actually disseminated it to different society including POGS. We have this topic “ Reproductive developmental and environmental health” being integrated in training program and curriculum of third year and 4th year medical students.

I think these two foundations are often overlooked, but in reality they may have the greatest impact (even if covert) on the success or failure of academic programs. The impact they have is often non-negotiable, and we often find ourselves just adjusting our courses to accommodate political and environmental constraints.

Thank you for the great discussion of the topics. I agree with the presenter that politics influences the foundation of each country’s educational system as political forces and those in power and influence may truly reflect the values they prioritize and political agendas such as budget allocation and funding. They set national standards and mandate the trajectories for which program the curricula they think will be relevant to economic growth.

As for environmental influences, guided by UN’s SGD program, our curriculum can be shaped to address our local environment and health needs.

I fully agree that the curricula of any school, more so in a medical school, should take into consideration the political and environmental milieu of the country. It is just disappointing that in the Philippines, everything seems to be politicized.
Taking the political setting into account when one formulates a curriculum can tailor-fit regulations lor licensure, scope of practice, credentialing and even resource allocation. Prioritization of programs to alleviate poverty and inequality can also be done.
The battlecry for any environmentally sound undertaking is sustainability. The curriculum should include environmental protection, promotion and sustainability in its courses. Healthcare industry is one of the biggest pollutants and source of infectious waste. If the issues of waste reduction, resource conservation and environmentally responsible healthcare delivery can be addressed, that would be a very good starting point in a curriculum.

As educational policies and implementation is shaped and decided upon by those in the government, it is important that we recognize that education is political. and thus, the development and implementation of a curriculum is heavily impacted by a country's politics and the agenda and priorities of those in position of power. We adjust our curriculum in response to the policies and priorities of the present government. As I watched the presentation, I thought of it also as "a chicken or an egg issue". In a democratic society like ours, it means that educational system ( with education policies, being a political issue) for it to to be strong, effective, relevant and responsive to the needs of the people, will stem from strong and mature electorate. We are the ones casting our votes and decide who will be our policy makers and executors. But education plays an important role in shaping the minds and values of the electorate. "Mababa ba (o mataas) and kalidad ng edukasyon dahil mahina (o mabuti) ang gobyerno? o mahina (o mabuti) ang gobyerno dahil ang mababang (mataas na) kalidad ng edukasyon ay magbubunga ng mahihinang (o matatalinong) botante?

Planetary Health and Public Health as well as UHC Law incorporated into curriculum designs of medical programs are good examples of political and environmental foundations in impacting the development of HCPs as aware and responsive individuals to climate change, poverty, and political shifts affecting health.