investigating the knowledge and attitude gap regarding climate change between medical and non-medical students: the necessity of a comprehensive curriculum

Background: climate change is among the most critical global issues, threatening economies, ecosystems, and human health. it has increased the frequency of heat waves, floods, and droughts, impacting food security, agriculture, and disease patterns. despite its importance, many medical schools have not sufficiently incorporated climate change into their curricula, leaving future physicians underprepared to address its health impacts.objectives: this study assesses medical and non-medical students' awareness, attitudes, and behaviours toward climate change. it emphasizes integrating climate change topics into medical education to prepare students to address health-related challenges and become responsible healthcare professionals.methods: in this cross-sectional analytical study, 375 medical and non-medical university students from kerman province (2023) were enrolled. data were collected using a validated five-part questionnaire based on alina kote's tool, assessing attitudes, awareness, personal concerns, reinforcing, and adaptive behaviours. convenience sampling was utilized, and anova was conducted to compare the mean scores between the groups. reliability was confirmed (cronbach's a = 0.89).results: the participants included 41.3% males and 58.7% females. medical students had significantly higher scores in attitudes (p < 0.001), personal concerns (p < 0.001), and adaptive behaviours (p = 0.011), but lower scores in awareness (p < 0.001) and reinforcing behaviours (p = 0.014) compared to non-medical students. gender showed no significant influence on the outcomes. graduate students scored higher in reinforcing and adaptive behaviours than undergraduates (p = 0.014 and p = 0.011, respectively).conclusion: the study found that gender does not affect students' attitudes, knowledge, or adaptive behaviors toward climate change. the results highlight the importance of integrating climate change topics into curricula for all disciplines. educational interventions tailored to each university are recommended to increase students' awareness and ability to engage in climate adaptation and mitigation. additionally, students can play a key role in raising public awareness and influencing policy changes at the community level.