Physician training in agricultural safety and health: the Emory Agromedicine Training Project

This paper describes the Emory Agromedicine Training Project, a component of Occupational Medicine residency training at Emory University since 1991. The Project places occupational medicine residents in rural settings, where they perform a range of activities: working on farms, service visits to farms, grand rounds presentations to rural hospitals, public presentations in farm communities, and clinical service in the migrant health program. In addition they complete a directed reading syllabus and a research project. The rotation has been successful in building the residents' knowledge of agricultural safety and health, instilling positive attitudes toward the field, and achieving desired behaviors and skills. In addition, strong statewide networking was accomplished through this initiative. Areas of limited success include the small number of residents trained, some resident dissatisfaction with intense travel requirements and security concerns, and inability to secure long-term funding. We conclude that agricultural safety and health is highly suitable for inclusion in occupational medicine training, and this model should be extended to primary care specialties such as family practice.