UToledo Medical Students Set Sail to Study How Lake Erie Shapes Human Health

UToledo Medical Students Set Sail to Study How Lake Erie Shapes Human Health

More than 35 University of Toledo first- and second-year students recently left the classroom behind for an evening cruise connecting water quality, algal blooms and air pollution to patient care.

The Environmental Determinants of Health Cruise, sponsored by the Jacobson Center for Clinical and Translational Research and the Medical Student Research Program in the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, began with dinner and short presentations at the Toledo Yacht Club. Students then boarded the Glass City Pearl for an educational cruise.

On the water, they saw firsthand the features that make the region distinctive and considered how water quality, harmful algal blooms, air pollution, fisheries, habitat, industry, and drinking-water protection all fit into interconnected ecosystems that ultimately shape human health.

UToledo physicians and environmental scientists, along with community partners, shared perspectives throughout the evening. Students also watched a demonstration of Lake Erie water sampling and had time to talk informally with faculty, researchers, trainees and community members.

"We want our students to understand that a patient's health doesn't begin and end in the exam room," said Dr. David Kennedy, a professor of medicine and senior director of Medical Student Research Program development. "Here in northwest Ohio, the health of our patients and communities is closely connected to Lake Erie and the larger ecosystem around it, including our waterways, air, wildlife, food systems, neighborhoods and the places where people live, work and recreate. We wanted our students to get out into that environment, see those connections firsthand and understand that environmental health is integrally linked to human health."

Participants said experiencing these concepts in the environment itself, rather than only discussing them in a lecture hall, made them more meaningful. The cruise underscored that the health of patients, communities and the Great Lakes ecosystem are deeply connected.

Based on the enthusiasm of students and everyone involved, organizers hope to make the cruise an annual experience for future medical students.

The experience aligns with the University's focus on providing experiential learning as a defining feature of a UToledo education.