A New K-State / KU-Medical Center CollaborationHow to get Agromedicine started in Kansas Who to contact for more information Agromedicine is the name of a partnership between medical and Land Grant University professionals which promotes the health and safety of farm families and environments, agriculture workers, consumers of agricultural products and associated industries. There are many problem areas in agriculture which require health professional resources to identify the causes and ways to prevent them. When farmer and related industry worker morbidity arises, prompt medical diagnosis and effective treatment is essential. Further, all of these problem areas require educational outreach to explain, reassure and train the public, the agriculture industry workers, and their families about morbidity etiology and the prevention as well as other relevant health and safety promotion. Agromedicine partnerships Agromedicine is a coordinated response to the needs listed above. Agromedicine is an interdisciplinary partnership that links the state’s land grant and the medical universities’ resources. The land grant university typically provides the agricultural and veterinary medicine expertise while the cooperative extension service provides the educational outreach and community based intervention programming. The KU medical college faculty provide the medical epidemiology as well as the diagnosis and treatment of cases in consultation with local practitioners. Agromedicine partnerships are currently functioning in 17 states.
The National Agromedicine Consortium The state agromedicine partners are linked by a National Agromedicine Consortium. Consortium members encouraged Kansas to join and to host the Spring, 1998 National Consortium meeting at K-State. The Office of Community Health has been facilitating collaboration discussions among faculty at KU Medical College, K-State Research and Extension, and K-State Veterinary Medicine. Initial areas for partnering involve teaching, research and service on a range of topics including the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of problems associated with:
What Did it Take to Get Agromedicine Started in Kansas? The answer is very simple. It took "only a few people of good will" at the land grant and at the medical university campuses. These people recognized the other as a professional with colleagues who have much to contribute to the multidisciplinary partnership. Also, it is important to recognize that Extension’s clients are the patients of the medical professionals. Often, cooperation between the two groups is as simple as a phone call to share information, to refer a client or patient to additional medical or land grant university department services, or to set up joint training opportunities for professionals and consumer groups. Agromedicine does not require new funding or a special grant to get started. It simply took faculty at the land grant and medical campuses willing to work together and to share resources for the benefit of Kansans. Persons interested in exploring agromedicine activities or obtaining more information may contact:
MEMORANDUM OF
UNDERSTANDING The purpose of this agreement is to facilitate research, teaching and service activities related to the inter-disciplinary professional field of Agromedicine among the faculty in various departments at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas Medical Center. Agromedicine is emerging as an integration of applied, basic and clinical sciences focused on health and safety issues involved in modern agriculture including farm families and environments, workers in agriculture associated industries, and consumers of agricultural products. Agromedicine has many health and safety problems that require professional resources to identify their causes and ways to prevent them. For example, when morbidity in farmers and agribusiness workers rises, It is essential that timely epidemiological study, medical diagnosis and provision for effective treatment occur. Health and safety risk areas require educational outreach to explain, reassure and train the public, agribusiness workers, and their families about the etiology of specific diseases and prevention strategies. Agromedicine in Kansas is a flexible interdisciplinary partnership that links resources at the state's land grant university and medical center. Faculty of the land grant university provide the agricultural and veterinary medicine expertise while the cooperative extension service provides the educational outreach and community-based intervention programs. Faculty of the medical center provide expertise in environmental and occupational medicine, occupational nursing, industrial hygiene, medical epidemiology, risk assessment, toxicology, and a broad range of clinical services that includes the diagnosis and treatment of cases in consultation with local practitioners. Effective collaborations may evolve in areas of shared expertise such as environmental sciences, toxicology and health and safety training. To facilitate the collaborative purpose of this agreement, interested faculty and administrators at Kansas State University and the University of Kansas Medical Center agree to explore partnerships in teaching, research and service on a range of topics including the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of health and safety problems associated with (but not limited to) the following:
The agromedicine partners will also seek ways to provide the framework for collaborations including but not limited to the following:
In order to begin the Kansas Agromedicine collaborations, the undersigned acknowledge this Memorandum of Understanding.
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