Students interested in the Farm Medicine program will typically work with a mentor in the National Farm Medicine Center (NFMC) on a project that focuses on outreach and rural or occupational health problems within the farm communities. This includes preventing youth injuries and fatalities, injury surveillance, community outreach and education, farm microbiome and human immunology, and evaluation research. In addition to the independent research project, students may have the opportunity to be involved with projects related to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, which is one of 11 agricultural centers funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the editorial offices of the Journal of Agromedicine, which is the world’s number one source of peer-reviewed agricultural safety and health information. Read the National Farm Medicine Center's Year in Review for a snapshot of yearly activities.
NFMC Summer Program Projects
NFMC researchers offered one project for the 2024 summer session. The project(s) below are for reference and will be updated during the fall of 2024.
1) Assessing Adult Accountability regarding “Childhood Farm Injuries are NOT Accidents"
Project Overview:
Research findings (Lee et al) have revealed that childhood agricultural fatalities are rarely investigated. Law enforcement, district attorneys, and Child Protective Service professionals often refer to preventable child farm-related deaths as “accidents.” To increase accountability of key disciplines, future attempts will be made to change their frame of reference – where applicable, comparing farm-related deaths to urban deaths (e.g., kids in hot cars, firearms access).
Primary research question: What is the perspective of three professional groups (law enforcement, district attorneys, and CPS) regarding adult accountability associated with serious injuries and deaths of children on farms?
Requirements:
Undergraduate seniors and graduate students who are engaged in the following areas are strongly encouraged to apply for this project: pre-law, sociology, or psychology. Students will be performing literature reviews, collecting data, analyzing data, attending seminars, and writing. This project is either virtual or in-person internship.
Friendly reminder, the internship is a competitive process with an application, copy of transcripts, resume or CV, personal statement, and two academic or research references. See Frequently Asked Questions for additional details.
The application window is now closed for the 2024 session.