Clinical
Case Studies

Based on real scenarios, these clinical case studies help health professionals identify and develop strategies for detecting and managing new health threats caused by environmental challenges. Cases can be explored below – and can be downloaded as slide sets for instruction in medical courses, residency programs, and other educational settings (view instructor guide here).

TOXIC EXPOSURES

VECTORBORNE DISEASES & CLIMATE CHANGE

PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS

CLIMATE DISTRESS & ECOANXIETY

FOOD SECURITY

WATER-RELATED DISASTERS

EXTREME HEAT

AIR POLLUTION

EMERGING ZOONOSES

PETS & OTHER ANIMAL SENTINELS

DISPLACEMENT & REFUGEE HEALTH

Erika Veidis 5/9/23 Erika Veidis 5/9/23

Extreme Heat

An 83-year-old woman with congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and chronic kidney disease braces for an impending heat emergency.

Erika Veidis 5/9/23 Erika Veidis 5/9/23

Emerging Zoonoses

A 28-year-old man presents to the ER in Kerala, India with confusion, fever, and vomiting. His relatives, some of whom catch wild animals and collect fruit, are also in the ER and have similar symptoms.

Erika Veidis 5/9/23 Erika Veidis 5/9/23

Displacement & Refugee Health

A 28-year-old woman recently arrived in the U.S. from Somalia presents to your primary care clinic in Seattle to establish care.

hulo.dev 5/8/23 hulo.dev 5/8/23

Air Pollution

A 55-year-old woman in rural Rwanda presents with progressively worsening dyspnea on exertion and lower extremity and abdominal swelling. She cooks daily using a wood-fired stove in her dirt home.

Erika Veidis 4/15/23 Erika Veidis 4/15/23

Climate Distress & Ecoanxiety

You are seeing a 28-year-old patient in the Western U.S. who vaguely complains about “not feeling well” and generally worrying about her health. As you take a history, you find that she has significant concerns about climate change and the state of the environment.

Erika Veidis 4/14/23 Erika Veidis 4/14/23

Toxic Exposures

In a rural area of West Africa, a three-year-old child is admitted to the local hospital with abdominal pain and decreased responsiveness after a witnessed seizure.

Erika Veidis 4/14/23 Erika Veidis 4/14/23

Pandemic Preparedness

A 44-year-old woman presents to your primary care clinic with severe headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and a diffuse rash. She just traveled back from Uganda, where she went on a safari.

Erika Veidis 4/14/23 Erika Veidis 4/14/23

Food Security

A 50-year-old male living in a small town in rural Alaska presents for diabetes follow up. This patient has a history of hypertension and diet-controlled diabetes.

Erika Veidis 4/12/23 Erika Veidis 4/12/23

Vectorborne Diseases & Climate Change

A female in her thirties presents to an emergency room in Miami, Florida with fever, headache, and flank pain.

Erika Veidis 4/11/23 Erika Veidis 4/11/23

Water-Related Disasters

A 27-year-old male presents with severe pain in his right leg 7 days after a monsoon resulted in a severe flash flood in his community in the Philippines.

Erika Veidis 4/1/23 Erika Veidis 4/1/23

Pets & Other Animal Sentinels

A 60-year-old woman is admitted to the hospital in the Northeastern U.S. with fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and altered mental status. She reports that her dog died the week before – that also had fever and neurological problems.

Learning Objectives

CLINICAL KNOWLEDGE

Recognize, assess, and address planetary health concerns in different clinical settings, including air pollution, heat exposure, toxics, zoonotic disease, and environmental anxiety.

PATIENT-CENTERED CARE

Provide patient-centered anticipatory guidance and support for medical issues related to planetary health.

INTERPROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Collaborate across specialties and health professions to promote health and ensure the continued delivery of care in the face of planetary health stressors.

CLINICAL COMPETENCIES

Apply knowledge of planetary health core content to clinical encounters (e.g., identifying medical diagnoses and other health determinants that make patients vulnerable to planetary health threats).

DETECTING SENTINEL CASES

Demonstrate the ability to detect sentinel cases of adverse health outcomes related to environmental change and planetary health factors.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Engage in environmental sustainability and healthcare decarbonization efforts; support adaptations designed to promote the uninterrupted delivery of healthcare in the face of environmental change.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Learn to advocate for planetary health solutions with an emphasis on systems thinking, environmental justice, and community engagement.

Clinical Case Studies

Learning Objectives

Clinical
Case Studies