EIS 2021

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Epirn

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Anyone applying for EIS 2021?
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awesome! Have you applied before? I’m not sure timing wise I will this year, but am gathering information to hopefully apply next year. Just very interested in learning all I can about it!
 
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I'm in the dissertation writing stage of my PhD in public health focusing on infectious disease genomics. How about you guys? This is my first time applying and I'm very excited/nervous!
 
I did! I'm hopeful, but I don't have an MPH, so it's less likely my application will go anywhere. I'm an MD IM resident.
 
Application updated to under review. Starting to feel a little more real. Anyone else updated?
 
Yup mine was switched to under review too. Agreed, it definitely feels a bit more real now. Curious to see how COVID-19 impacts the number of applicants this year and number accepted
 
I was trying to find statistical information on the typical size of an average applicant pool, the number interviewees and the number selected. The best I could find is that it sounds like (during an average year) there are roughly 500 applicants. From those applicants, about a third get interviews. From the interviewees, about a third get selected. I'm not sure how accurate this is.

So for mathematical sake, lets say there are 600 applicants x 1/3 = 200 interviews
200 interviewees x 1/3 = 67 selectees.

I think the last couple classes had >70 selectees, so that is good news for us 🙂
 
DoJoEIS said:
I was trying to find statistical information on the typical size of an average applicant pool, the number interviewees and the number selected. The best I could find is that it sounds like (during an average year) there are roughly 500 applicants. From those applicants, about a third get interviews. From the interviewees, about a third get selected. I'm not sure how accurate this is.

So for mathematical sake, lets say there are 600 applicants x 1/3 = 200 interviews
200 interviewees x 1/3 = 67 selectees.

I think the last couple classes had >70 selectees, so that is good news for us 🙂
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Def good news that it seems the number of accepted applicants are increasing! I've seen those stats before and was curious if there would possibly be a change this year, i.e. increased interest in pursing epi/ID because of the pandemic, or maybe less applicants if they were unable to submit this year. Also wondering if maybe there would be an increase in funding for the program meaning more spots opening up? I guess mostly wishful just thinking for the latter 🙂
 
pubh_NGS, it looks like, for now anyway, that we are the only two posting. I hope more join the party. I just read one of your posts above that you are currently writing your dissertation. When do you defend?
 
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DoJoEIS said:
pubh_NGS, it looks like, for now anyway, that we are the only two posting. I hope more join the party. I just read one of your posts above that you are currently writing your dissertation. When do you defend?
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Yeah I'm pretty surprised there aren't more people commenting like the previous year's posts. I'll defend (fingers crossed) in Dec., the requirement for EIS is that you have to defend by March 31 of the fellowship year. What about you what's your background?
 
pubh_NGS said:
Yeah I'm pretty surprised there aren't more people commenting like the previous year's posts. I'll defend (fingers crossed) in Dec., the requirement for EIS is that you have to defend by March 31 of the fellowship year. What about you what's your background?
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I know! I’m not applying this year but am interested in following the process (good luck!) to learn for next year... and was surprised to not find a thread started! Maybe more will come out of the woodwork
 
I think that is smart Eprin. Receiving feedback from others as they complete interviews etc. can only benefit you.

pubh_NGS, I have a PhD only. I don't think I am a very strong candidate since I don't have an MPH. I do have a couple of nice bullet-points in my resume that I hope will help land me an interview.
 
Hi guys! I applied for the first time! Yah! I hope to defend my dissertation public health epidemiology- by end of year and I have an MPH. I work in public health..always my dream. Hopefully, I can snag a spot but who knows with all you super qualified folks. So excited to even be qualified to apply. I noticed they changed it to 2021 and your name....or was it always like that? Lol. Goodluck to everyone.
 
nickybh said:
Hi guys! I applied for the first time! Yah! I hope to defend my dissertation public health epidemiology- by end of year and I have an MPH. I work in public health..always my dream. Hopefully, I can snag a spot but who knows with all you super qualified folks. So excited to even be qualified to apply. I noticed they changed it to 2021 and your name....or was it always like that? Lol. Goodluck to everyone.
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Hey you're definitely super qualified too! We know what they're looking for on paper but who knows what actually goes down during the review process. Good luck to all! And you're right, they did change it 🤔

I'm currently just trying to forget EIS for the moment so I don't drive myself crazy thinking about it when we still have probably 2 months before we hear anything. Seems like I'm not doing a very good job of it considering I'm responding to your post within 24hrs....
 
pubh_NGS said:
Hey you're definitely super qualified too! We know what they're looking for on paper but who knows what actually goes down during the review process. Good luck to all! And you're right, they did change it 🤔

I'm currently just trying to forget EIS for the moment so I don't drive myself crazy thinking about it when we still have probably 2 months before we hear anything. Seems like I'm not doing a very good job of it considering I'm responding to your post within 24hrs....
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Yes! Indeed. I think we all are really excited about the possibility and have some anxiety. They do not provide much updates- I think that’s why we keep checking. I’m glad you notice the change as well. You are right maybe a good idea to stop checking it daily. 🙂
 
I suspect there will be either way more applicants this year with everything going on, or far fewer, but I don't know which way it will go. I'm hoping they will have the funds to take more officers, too. But then again, perhaps they will pull the funds for other projects.
 
I suspect that due to the pandemic, they may take up to 80 EISO's this year.
 
Well, they just released the 2020 Annual Update: Annual Update | About Our Program | Epidemic Intelligence Service | CDC
In regards to us PhD only candidates, last year they accepted 27 'Doctoral Scientists'. Of the 27, 16 had an MPH and 8 had some other Master's degree. That means they accepted 3 PhD-only candidates. Not looking real good for me, although it is an increase from the previous years where they only accepted 1. As the poster above said...….FINGERS CROSSED.
 
Oof the dwindling number of physicians has me anxious. But thank you for posting that!
 
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I also applied. I am a Med/Peds resident with PhD and MPH. Hopefully, for us, the dwindling physician numbers isn't an indication of EIS program preference..

It will be interesting to see how the pandemic changes public health institutions like EIS/CDC.

Good luck everyone!
 
MD here as well. No Masters degree. I see that 5 out of the 21 MDs last year didn't have additional degrees. At the end of the day it comes down to experience, CV, passion, letters (i.e., your story). I'm curious if CDC has gotten more funding this year for more EIS officers given Covid? Who knows.

Speaking of, even for those who get in, it will be very unconventional with choosing your department. There's an in-person event where you meet with all the departments in a match like process and decide who to rank. Not sure how that's going to happen now. Maybe they can do it outdoors and make everyone wear masks. But probably still not.
 
pubh_NGS said:
Thanks for sharing. I wonder if the recently added writing portion will still be included
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I do not know too much about the whole interview process. Could you please share? Thanks. Where’d you find that info?
 
nickybh said:
I do not know too much about the whole interview process. Could you please share? Thanks. Where’d you find that info?
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It's unofficial info mentioned by applicants in other EIS forums from previous cycles, maybe in last year's SDN thread. There was talk about a writing portion at some point during the interview day but no one mentioned any further specifics.
 
Hello everyone! So, I applied to the EIS for the 2021 cohort. I had started the app and kind of forgot about it because of COVID until they sent an email extending the deadline. I applied thinking maybe they received fewer applications than they were anticipating. I am defending my Ph.D. in Nursing by March 1 and have no master's degree. I am an Emory student, and 2 Ph.D. nurses from Emory were admintted to the class of 2020, so I will be able to pick their brains for interview tips.
 
RN_PhD_2021 said:
Hello everyone! So, I applied to the EIS for the 2021 cohort. I had started the app and kind of forgot about it because of COVID until they sent an email extending the deadline. I applied thinking maybe they received fewer applications than they were anticipating. I am defending my Ph.D. in Nursing by March 1 and have no master's degree. I am an Emory student, and 2 Ph.D. nurses from Emory were admintted to the class of 2020, so I will be able to pick their brains for interview tips.
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That's exciting news! Welcome to the club haha. Let's hope they extended the deadline because our chances are high. Either that or they didn't like the looks of the rest of us who applied earlier! XD If you hear anything let us know!

I'm also intrigued by the interviews being just one week this year. Weren't they over longer periods in the past?
 
Epi_cailin said:
Hello! This is my third year applying as an international applicant. The first year I was unfortunately deemed ineligible because I did not submit a transcript for my PhD (we don't have those in Europe). I sorted that side of things and this year, after speaking with many EIS officers (past and present), my application has improved immensely!

I am keeping my fingers crossed for everyone!
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Sounds like you are a very determined candidate who would make a great officer! What did you do (besides rectifying the transcript issue) to improve your application?
 
EISHopeful2021+ said:
That's exciting news! Welcome to the club haha. Let's hope they extended the deadline because our chances are high. Either that or they didn't like the looks of the rest of us who applied earlier! XD If you hear anything let us know!

I'm also intrigued by the interviews being just one week this year. Weren't they over longer periods in the past?
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I am not sure about the interview process yet. A student in my cohort was accepted and they started training this week! Once we get closer to interview time I will pick her brain for sure.
 
pubh_NGS said:
Sounds like you are a very determined candidate who would make a great officer! What did you do (besides rectifying the transcript issue) to improve your application?
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Thank you! A mixture of things, but mainly I spoke with a number of current and previous EISOs who gave me some very valuable advice, including on how to tell a story in my personal statement. I have also gained some great experience in the last year which definitely adds to my application. I am aware that my chances are much lower than US citizens, but this is such an excellent program that I am going to keep trying and hopefully the odds are in my favour!
 
RN_PhD_2021 said:
I am not sure about the interview process yet. A student in my cohort was accepted and they started training this week! Once we get closer to interview time I will pick her brain for sure.
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How exciting for her! Definitely speak to her about her experience. It will no doubt be invaluable 🙂
 
Hi! I'm so glad to find this; I didn't want to wait by myself. I'm an MPH/PhD - will defend in September. I've also experience in local health departments doing disease investigation with STIs, so I'm hopeful that makes me a good candidate. Dream job!
 
Double posting, but I have a question. I've looked at the past threads; it seems like you get accepted, and then it's like residency matching to find your work posting??? Is that right?
 
futureeis said:
Double posting, but I have a question. I've looked at the past threads; it seems like you get accepted, and then it's like residency matching to find your work posting??? Is that right?
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Yes seems from past threads that is the case!
 
EpiOnTour said:
Yes seems from past threads that is the case!
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Hello! Yes, usually the matching occurs at the EIS conference but this year it took place remotely. I'm not sure how that worked, but the people I spoke with were pretty happy! Do speak with incoming or current EISOs if you can, they are usually incredibly happy to help and it's great to chat with someone who is as excited and motivated as you are about PH!
 
Due to COVID-19, they have made some changes to how they will do interviews, selections. Interviews will officially be conducted virtually (which I am sure we all pretty much assumed, but now it is in writing).

1595526058178.png
 
Epi_cailin said:
Hello! Yes, usually the matching occurs at the EIS conference but this year it took place remotely. I'm not sure how that worked, but the people I spoke with were pretty happy! Do speak with incoming or current EISOs if you can, they are usually incredibly happy to help and it's great to chat with someone who is as excited and motivated as you are about PH!
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Oh wow. Thought the matching would occur once they notify you of acceptance. So that only gives you like a month or so to move? Wow.
 
nickybh said:
Oh wow. Thought the matching would occur once they notify you of acceptance. So that only gives you like a month or so to move? Wow.
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There's pre-matching too I think, but I'm not sure!
 
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