By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281
George Agrios

Source(s): (352) 392-3631

GAINESVILLE—University of Florida graduate students can learn about a different kind of medicine when the College of Agriculture begins offering a doctoral program in plant medicine, starting in fall 2000.

Students enrolled in the new doctor of plant medicine (DPM) degree program, believed to be the world’s first, will be trained to diagnose any problems that affect plants and make recommendations to correct those ailments.

“Graduates will be called plant doctors,” said George Agrios, director of the program and chair of the UF’s plant pathology department. “They’ll be able to diagnose and treat illness in a plant the same way a medical doctor would in a human patient.

“For the first time, we’re combining the knowledge and expertise from various disciplines into one degree program that parallels professional programs in medicine and veterinary medicine,” he said.

Approved by the Board of Regents this past summer, the plant doctor program will require three years of course work at the graduate level across various disciplines and departments in UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

He said the program was created to meet the growing demand for professionals who have a broad range of expertise in growing and maintaining healthy plants for many types of public and private applications, ranging from production agriculture to ornamental horticulture and golf course management.

“Plant doctors will offer expert service to commercial and urban plant growers, and their expertise will help protect our environment and water resources,” Agrios said. “By making the correct diagnosis and prescribing the best, scientifically determined treatment, they will help reduce the use of fertilizers, pesticides and other materials that can harm the environment.

“Graduates of the program will not be or become researchers,” Agrios said. “Instead, they will be trained to diagnose and offer recommendations for the control and management of anything that adversely affects plants.”

He said plant ailments can be caused by anything from disease pathogens such as fungi, bacteria, and viruses to insects, mites, nematodes, weeds, nutrient deficiencies, water and temperature extremes, toxic air and other pollutants, soil pH values, and vertebrate pests such as birds, gophers and field mice.

The program will be housed in the plant pathology department, but the degree will be an interdisciplinary, interdepartmental degree from the College of Agriculture. Courses will be provided by many departments, including entomology and nematology, plant pathology, agronomy, horticulture, and soil and water science. Students also will be required to take courses in communications, agricultural law and business management.

The DPM program requires 90 semester credits of graduate course work plus 30 semester credits of internship. Students will be required to complete internships, each lasting several weeks, with extension plant pathologists, entomologists and nematologists, weed scientists, pesticide companies, seed companies and large agribusiness firms.

The program is open to students with a bachelor’s degree in any of the biological sciences, a grade point average of 3.0 (on a scale of 4.0) and a score of at least 1000 on the Graduate Record Examination. Agrios said more than 30 students inquiredabout the program before it was officially announced.

“Upon successful completion of the course work and internship, students must pass a comprehensive examination in various disciplines,” Agrios said. “After graduation, they also must pass an examination by a state licensing board, which will give them credibility and security as professionals.”

He said international students who return to work in their native countries, where there are usually few or no specialists available to answer specific plant health questions, may find the DPM program especially useful.

For more information on the plant doctor program, visit the following Web site: http://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu or contact Agrios at (352) 392-3631. His e-mail address is: gna@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu

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