This research aims at understanding the contribution of professional narrative accounts in preparing future ergonomists for their profession. It follows the recent introduction of a training program piloted by teachers in a university training center during which ergonomists gave students narrative accounts about their professional practice. The study of the effects of these narratives indicates that their educational purpose does not prejudge how the student will use them in a learning perspective. Some narratives were much more captivating, were better remembered, and produced much more targeted effects of ergonomics training than others by a majority of the students. All the narratives are not equivalent. Several favorable learning conditions were identified, among them the development of the professional's explanation of the educational purpose of the narrative account, using dynamic visuals, giving real applications of how the accounts could be useful for students, involving the addressees of narratives and the development of the number of problem situations discussed during professional narratives and their resolutions. These results highlight the crucial role of the trainer and professional contributors, and provide food for thought regarding the design of training programs and the conditions of production, narration and utilization of accounts by the students and the participating professionals. We also note an influence of the student's own cultural background, goals and mobiles in the process of operating accounts. We argue the principle of a double contribution {narrative-subject} whose some coupling properties promote a productive use of narratives. Finally, several professional guides use narratives in the context of university education are developed. They address several audiences. First, anyone wishing to be guided in developing an account of his experience. In addition, anyone wishing to engage professionals to share their experience in a training context. Keywords: professional training, professional narratives, ergonomics, teaching situation, conditions and learning process, episodic knowledge.
