CDC Fellowship opportunities

[Sarikate]

I've gotten some inquiries about a year-long fellowship I did with the Centers for Disease Control. I went into it just after graduating college and would recommend checking it out if you are taking some time off before med school and want to do public health work.

The fellowship is for bachelor's or master's-level scientists. The CDC/NCID (National Centers for Infectious Disease) has three federal locations - Atlanta, Fort Collins CO, and Anchorage AK - but you can also work at different state public health labs throughout the country. It gives you an opportunity to do bench work, field work (I used to fly out to tiny arctic villages in single-engine prop planes, swab hundreds of throats, sleep on clinic floors...it was the life), and the opportunity to publish and/or present your research at international conferences.

Here's a website:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eidlfp.htm

If you have any questions...go ahead and post 'em!

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[Sarikate]

With several PMs from interested people, I'm bumping this so they can see the info!

 

[dcham]

does it have to be for a hole year or can you do it for just a summer?

 

[Sarikate]

It's a year+ fellowship.

 

[Archimedes]

The website says that you start in September. This means there will be a conflict with starting medical school the following year, right? Because, I'm thinking you end August of the following year. Don't most med schools start classes in July or so?

 

[Sarikate]

No, most of them start in August, as far as I know...and leaving in August wouldn't be a really big deal, if you're going to med school.

 

[Thundrstorm]

I'm currently applying for this fellowship and praying that I get it. It sounds amazing. I do have a couple of questions for you:

They ask you to indicate in your essay what kind of disease you wish to study. How specific were you in your answer and did you get the kind of research your requested?

Did they really wait until the second week of May to inform you of your status? (The thought of waiting until the week of graduation makes me so nervous)

When did you find out where you were placed?

Is there opportunity to extend the fellowship past a year?

Thanks.

 

[Sarikate]

I'm currently applying for this fellowship and praying that I get it. It sounds amazing. I do have a couple of questions for you:

They ask you to indicate in your essay what kind of disease you wish to study. How specific were you in your answer and did you get the kind of research your requested?

Did they really wait until the second week of May to inform you of your status? (The thought of waiting until the week of graduation makes me so nervous)

When did you find out where you were placed?

Is there opportunity to extend the fellowship past a year?

Thanks.

Good questions...when I applied, I didn't care what I really ended up studying, because I had really broad interests. I ended up writing about my interest in waterborne diseases because I had traveled to Africa and found these to be atrocities there. I also said that I had broad interests and would be happy to study other public health issues.

Yes, their timeline is very crazy. I found out via e-mail that I was being offered an interview, but it wasn't until the second paragraph that they mentioned it - sounded at first like a rejection. The waiting is tough, but in the meantime, apply for other jobs and let them know you are waiting to hear about a very competitive fellowship. I had plans lined up to work at a TB lab at Rockefeller if I didn't get the fellowship.

At the interview (which was nice - they fly you down to Atlanta on their dime, wine and dine you), you have a reception with a bunch of PIs and talk about their research and decide what the best fit would be for you. Then you indicate your top four choices and wait another month or so, and they do a matching system and call you up and say, "This is where you're going." My first choice had actually been a malaria lab that would be part-time in Atlanta and part-time in Kenya, but there was some miscommunication behind the scenes and I ended up getting my second choice, Alaska, which took me by surprise but ended up all right.

You can extend the fellowship up to six months, I think? Sometimes the labs will hire you on after your fellowship ends, too. It was just the right amount of time, I thought.

The CDC pays for the plane ticket to your new location, as well as tons of per diem and hotel stays while you're looking for housing, etc. They take care of you pretty well. And I've heard they raised the stipend a few thousand dollars. Always nice to be above the poverty line!

 

[Thundrstorm]

Thanks so much.

 

[Thundrstorm]

Oh, I actually have one more question. Is the interview session just to place you or is it part of the selection process? Or, in other words, is securing an invite essentially an acceptance?

 

[Sarikate]

I think they accept about 80-90% of the people they interview...so not a guarantee, but pretty close! If you want to send me your essay to look over, feel free to PM me.

 

[nmwyankees]

I think they accept about 80-90% of the people they interview.

Is this still true now in 2008? I'm interviewing in Atlanta June 16, 17, 18. Very excited and am wondering what my chances are. Anyone else going to be in A-Town for the interviews?