Extreme weather-related knowledge level and educational needs among medical students: a multi-city cross-sectional study in eastern China.

OBJECTIVE: Extreme weather remains a global health threat and has become more intense and frequent in the context of climate change. Mitigating the negative health impact of extreme weather events largely depends on efforts from medical and health workers, making the education on extreme weather-related knowledge among healthcare students paramount importance. However, little is known about healthcare students' knowledge level of extreme weather events and their educational needs. This study aimed to investigate the extent to which that healthcare students know about health impact of extreme weather events and their educational needs. METHODS: A multi-city cross-sectional survey was conducted in eastern China from June to December in 2025. Data on basic characteristics, mastery of knowledge regarding climate change and extreme weather events (heatwave, coldwave, blizzard, and flood), educational experience and needs regarding extreme weather, and climate change anxiety were collected from healthcare students. RESULTS: In general, healthcare students showed a low level of climate change anxiety, but their mastery of relevant knowledge was also low, with a relatively better mastery of heatwave-related knowledge and poorer mastery of coldwave-related knowledge. In addition, only a small proportion of students had course experience related to extreme weather (33.39%). Nevertheless, students expressed a strong willingness to learn (85.57%), with the desired learning content pertaining to the biological mechanisms by which extreme weather affects health, protection measures for high-risk populations under extreme weather conditions, campus emergency response, and methods to protect students' mental health. Moreover, regarding course format preferences, most students favored flexible formats including elective courses (35.93%), thematic lectures (30.67%) and online courses (25.50%), while less students chose compulsory courses (5.90%) or other formats (2.00%). CONCLUSION: Healthcare students in eastern China have poor knowledge of extreme weather and health. In the context of ongoing global warming and students' strong willingness to learn, medical curricula should be expanded to include education on extreme weather events and associated health impacts.