Environmental Literacy and Accountability of Undergraduate Students of Medical Sciences

This was a descriptive-analytical study which was conducted to investigate the knowledge, attitude and accountability of students towards the environment. The study population consisted of undergraduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, 210 of them were selected by using simple and accessible random sampling method. The participants knowledge of the environment was at low level, but their accountability about environmental issues was relatively high. Participants had a good attitude towards environmental issues and protection. Participants were largely concerned about environmental issues conveyed to them via parents’ perspective. More than 50 percent of them were active in environmental protection activities. Other findings showed that participants obtained most of their environmental information from the Internet, television, newspapers, magazines and books, respectively. According to linear regression analysis, environmental knowledge score was not significantly correlated with variables such as sex, age, residence, and education of their parents. Therefore, the current study confirms the impact of education on the students’ knowledge, attitude, and accountability towards the environment, and that the source of knowledge for most of the students is through the Internet, the development of university educational programs, and curriculum especially in the form of online learning is recommended.