Population & Planetary Health: A GP Trainee Guide
Population and planetary health can sound abstract — but in general practice, it often shows up through familiar everyday decisions: prevention, screening, vaccination, health inequalities, safe prescribing, proportionate investigation, supported self-care and reducing low-value activity.
This GP Fluency quick guide introduces the topic in a practical, trainee-friendly way. It explores how population and planetary health map to the RCGP curriculum, how the four principles of sustainable clinical practice apply in everyday GP care, and how this topic may appear in the AKT, SCA and ePortfolio evidence.
The aim is not to turn GP trainees into environmental scientists. It is to help trainees recognise that good GP care considers the patient, the community, the healthcare system and the future.
Use this resource to:
Understand what population and planetary health means in GP training
Recognise how this topic may appear in AKT-style questions and SCA consultations
Link everyday GP work to prevention, health inequalities, health protection and sustainable clinical practice
Identify examples of ePortfolio evidence for this part of the curriculum
Work through the slide deck as a short self-directed learning resource. You may find it helpful to pause at the AKT-style questions before revealing the answers and explanations.
This resource reflects current UK practice. For contemporaneous details, clinicians should refer to national guidance.
Last reviewed: May 2026