Medical Education for Agricultural Health and Safety

Medical education for agricultural health and safety is evolving to intersect primary care, rural community health, and occupational and environmental medicine (OEM). Agricultural hazards are concentrated among the diverse concerns of primary care and community health. Family physicians who respond to this diversity can maintain their rural practices while establishing the credibility necessary for acceptance as partners in programs for agricultural community health. Rural family physicians with expertise in community health and OEM can be the front line of agricultural medicine. Several educational efforts are relevant to producing these physicians: (1) rural medicine, (2) rural public health, (3) family medicine, and (4) OEM (including agricultural medicine). Agromedicine education to prepare physicians to partner with agricultural scientists and cooperative extension agents should also be considered. Each of these efforts requires faculty with special expertise and resources. Few institutions are prepared currently to merge and coordinate these programs into a coherent rural and agricultural medicine program. We recommend that a medical school in each distinctive agricultural region construct a model for developing agricultural medicine physicians and seek partners and resources to operationalize the model. Examples include the Iowa, South Carolina, and Alabama models. A vocal rural and agricultural constituency may be required for success.