Educational interventions for teaching sustainability in dental and medical education: a scoping review

Sustainability is increasingly recognised as a professional imperative in healthcare; supported by policy reform, regulatory guidance and global climate commitments. Despite this, the extent to which sustainability has been embedded into health professions education, particularly within dentistry and medicine, remains inconsistent and under-researched. Existing educational initiatives are fragmented, variable in depth and often under-evaluated, with wide heterogeneity in pedagogical approaches, outcomes and contexts. This scoping review seeks to systematically map existing evidence on sustainability-focused educational interventions within undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental education. Sustainability is interpreted broadly to include environmental sustainability, climate change, planetary health and related constructs, recognising the evolving and multidisciplinary nature of the concept. The review will explore how sustainability is currently taught, the educational approaches used, the settings in which interventions are delivered and the outcomes that are reported. A scoping review methodology is employed to address the conceptual and methodological diversity of the literature. The review aims to provide an overview of current educational practice, identify gaps and inconsistencies in the evidence base, and highlight opportunities for strengthening the integration of sustainability into healthcare education. The findings will inform future research, curriculum development and policy initiatives aimed at embedding sustainability more coherently across medical and dental training pathways.