Interest in Epidemiology

[Meeoni]

Hi,

I'm interested into going into the field of epidemiology what courses should I take to prepare for this masters degree.

Thank You

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[prav]

I recommend having a good familiarity with statistics. You might also benefit from playing around with some of the computer statistics software packages around, such as SPSS and STATA.

Reading books about epidemiology always gets me excited about the field, as well. Lately I've read a lot by Dr. Paul Farmer, the medical anthropologist who has done/written a lot about tuberculosis and AIDS in Haiti (among other places). Two titles I recommend are "Infections and Inqualities", and "Pathologies of Power" to start.

 

[Meeoni]

Great

Thank You for the book recommendations

 

[Chuckwalla]

Check the employment prospects before you jump in. I was in the same boat as you and saw they were not pretty.

 

[bbas]

Check the employment prospects before you jump in. I was in the same boat as you and saw they were not pretty.

Care to expand on that for those of us who are considering the field? Thanks.

 

[Chuckwalla]

Care to expand on that for those of us who are considering the field? Thanks.

Sure I will. I wanted to get a MPH and be an epidemiologist. Being that this would be a huge life choice I started investigating what the job opportunities were especially after I read on the Department of Labor website that epidemiology jobs will be "highly competitive". I tried job seach engines (monster, hot jobs) but came up with mostly nothing, some positions requiring a PhD or MD but nothing for just an MPH. I searched state health departments and most of the jobs for MPH epidemiologists were there but few and far between, I couldn't have found more that 40 throughout the whole US. Not only that the pay was pretty bad for a masters degree and you needed somewhere between 2-5 yrs experience. I wasn't able to find any entry level positions. Even if you do get the job there is little to no room for advancement. I spoke to an infection control nurse and she backed up what I had found.

If you are applying to the high paying and responsibility epidemiology jobs like at the CDC you will probably go against MDs (who often also have a MPH) and PhDs in which you will automatically be beaten out with just a MPH.

Please don't just take my word for it. Do you own research look at job prospects, job search engines, email Public Health Schools, ask current epidemiologists, even doctors and nurses. If I missed something and you prove me wrong I will be elated.

 

[swim2006]

There are so many opportunities available for epi....there is a reason ppl enter it. I was also told by my school that epidemiologist are in high demand. If you have an idea of an area of epi you are interested in talk to people in that area. It might take a couple years of experience to find jobs like Chuckwalla listed but most schools require that you do a practicum or field experience. This is a way to get your foot in the door. You will also find opportunities as you go through school. Also remember that you can apply to an mph program as an epi concentration but you can always change your concentration. There is alot of opportunities in environmental health in epi and in maternal and child health epi. At BU there is a whole peds epi center. Everywhere cancer and cardiovascular epi is huge. You can work at city public health department or at state public health department...and once you get experience you can work at CDC and federal departments....some ppl like to teach after they get their degree....and you can also go on to get a PhD in epi. Also go to school's website and there is usuallya place to where you can see what other graduates are currently doing...there is also clinical epi which can get you in a hospital setting working with MDs and PhDs. Some people with an epi background work as a program coordinator for some studies.

As for classes take something you enjoy because once you get to your graduate program you will take an intro level course anyways. I didn't take a single epi class in undergrad I just had a good reason for wanting to learn about it and why it was important to my future goals. If you want alittle non formal exposure there are classes in Microbiology departments on infectious dissease that will go through epi but not formally. Or if available to you, you could take a formal epi class. I took biostats 3.5 years ago and I have to take it again because undergrad biostats generally wont cover what you need to know or the level you need to understand it.

 

[Chuckwalla]

Could you please show me where all these job opps are? I'd really appreciate it. No sarcasm intended.

 

[bbas]

Can you go straight to a PhD epi program from undergrad, or do you need to get a masters first? It would seem pointless to get a MPH or MS if your eventual goal was to get a PhD.

 

[swim2006]

Can you go straight to a PhD epi program from undergrad, or do you need to get a masters first? It would seem pointless to get a MPH or MS if your eventual goal was to get a PhD.

Depends on the program/school you apply to.

 

[swim2006]

Could you please show me where all these job opps are? I'd really appreciate it. No sarcasm intended.

All I can really speak for is in Boston but there were opportunities at boston medical center, for the Framingham Heart Study, city and state levels of department or comissions on health. There were project coordinator opportunities throughtout the medical center and medical school. Here is what university of washington says
"Students pursuing an MPH generally seek employment in the more practice-oriented arena, such as a local or state public health department. Typical jobs in these organizations range from Epidemiologist (example: infectious disease surveillance) to Disease Intervention Specialist. Frequently, public health practitioners perform duties that would fall under other public health disciplines, such as health education, program design and evaluation and policy development. Duties vary widely, and may include outbreak and other field investigations, interviews, literature reviews, database searching, and those listed under the MS below, especially for graduates completing the MS core courses.

Students earning an MS usually pursue careers in research with responsibilities including study design, data analysis, grant and report writing, publication preparation and study coordination.

Federal agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health, offer a wide range of positions (such as those listed under the MPH and MS), especially research and outbreak investigation (CDC). Both organizations offer many fellowships, education and training opportunities, including opportunities to work for the Epidemiologic Intelligence Service. Additional information is available at http://www.cdc.gov/train.htm and http://grants.nih.gov/training/index.htm. "

Here is the site i got that from...it also lists current jobs and fellowships. Remember that Epi spans many fields and that if you are serious about research look into an MS or PhD in epi...if you want research opportunities and other responsibilities look into the mph because there are jobs that may not say epi on them but with an mph you have the qualifications for them....jobs like that epi might be part of the job but you might also do other things....so dont only look for epi in the job title if the title loks interesting read more about it

And yes getting to the exact job placement you wantmay take a couple of years working to get experience but that is usually the case for any profession.

heres an article about the top 25 jobs and epi is one of them
http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2005/01/top-jobs-main.html#epidem

Here is what i googled take a look for yourself
http://www.google.com/search?q=jobs...ient=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

an additional example is one of my micro professor goes out of the country to study parasites every summer and as part of the team an epi goes with them

Oh yeah and if you are interested in the type of job that requires a PhD then get a PhD in Epi....as i said before some school's programs require you to have a master's or md before applying but others dont and some school will let you start in a MS and sometimes let you transfer to the PhD program. If you know what you want go after it....an MPH isn't the only way into epi.

heres another job listing: from emory sph http://cfusion.sph.emory.edu/PHEC/phec.cfm?section_id

 

[RuralMedicine]

If you are applying to the high paying and responsibility epidemiology jobs like at the CDC you will probably go against MDs (who often also have a MPH) and PhDs in which you will automatically be beaten out with just a MPH.

Please don't just take my word for it. Do you own research look at job prospects, job search engines, email Public Health Schools, ask current epidemiologists, even doctors and nurses. If I missed something and you prove me wrong I will be elated.

If you look at CDC jobs someone with an MPH would be unlikely to be going against someone with a PhD or MD/DO (+/- an MPH). I interned at CDC and there were many program directors with MPH (perhaps +/- a related MS or RN in a few cases.) The same was true for program directors (and a few sub-bureau (or bureau chiefs with an overseeing division head) chiefs) at our state health department. CDC and DOH bureau/division heads typically had PhD or MD/DO + MPH (there were a few DrPH heads at CDC and probably are now at the mentioned state health department--the DrPH degree is a newer degree and was less widespread).

 

[Chuckwalla]

I saw everything you saw. That job site you listed is the best one I have found, so if you don't like what is on there find something else.

The list has zero credibility because it also has actor and athlete.

Opportunities in epidemiology also should be highly competitive, as the number of available positions remains limited.

There are jobs out there but they are few and far between. You type most jobs into a search site you will get 1,000s, you type in epidemiologist you get results in the double digits usually not related to epidemiology or requiring more than a MPH. The thing is if you don't land the job you want in the highly competitive market for epidemiologists you have little to fall back on.

Please don't think I am trying to burst your bubble. I wanted to be an epidemiologist very much as well. I was crushed when I saw the reality of it. Like I said, do your own research. Take into account your salary, paying off your tuition, the competitiveness of jobs, how high you can actually rise, whether you will have to travel a lot, what will happen if you get tired of your job etc.

 

[swim2006]

All I have to say is that yes you should look into all of that but if your heart is set on being an epidemiolgist then you will get where you want to be. Don't always look at just the jobs out(obviously you will need one but its not the only judge) If you are serious about a CDC job get the education you need to work there don't just blow off your career goals. Thing I don't understand is why everyone thinks they should stop at an MPH to get a job there are more advanced degrees out they....take advantage of them (I don't understand why this is such a hard concept to grasp). If you are going to let a job serach on google deter you from you ultmit goal then the job probably isnt for you. But dont let one person's perception change your mind. Sometimes it is about who you know in terms of finding job opportunities. I get dont think the term few and far between is accurate because i have a part time job working in the epi field as an MPH student.

 

[Chuckwalla]

That is great you are optimistic about the field but don't degrade me by saying I was discouraged by a simple google search.

 

[fantasty]

Can you go straight to a PhD epi program from undergrad, or do you need to get a masters first? It would seem pointless to get a MPH or MS if your eventual goal was to get a PhD.

At a lot of places, you apply to the MS with the intention of staying ("applying") for the PhD. The MS is a stepping stone to the phd and often requires overlapping coursework, whereas the MPH is a "terminal" professional degree, meant to teach you the basics to get a mid-level job in public health (hence, the MS being more of a research degree).

 

[fantasty]

Chuckwalla, don't give up all hope on epi. I realize that broadly, the jobs look hard to come by. But, our grads really haven't had much trouble finding some work (although, academic positions may be harder to come by).

Some of our grads had luck with state/local health depts when the money started being dumped into public health preparedness after 9/11 and the anthrax scare. But, this hasn't been long-lasting.

Our folks interested in infection control have been successful in finding infection control practitioners / hospital epidemiologist jobs. A degree in nursing or a clinical background helps, but isn't essential.

Drug companies, health organizations, and even just large employers in the private sector hire epidemiologists (including those with just an MPH). I've seen positions at oil companies (I think Citgo), as well as several pharma companies interested in MPH epidemiologists to help manage databases and do grunt work for large studies.

The other thing to consider is that getting to know your faculty (and going to conferences) could open up a lot of doors that you might not be able to find otherwise. Our school has many in-roads to abroad infectious epi (via military connections), aging and gerontology, cancer epi (as we have a SEER registry), and various health care systems who are interested in clinical epi, pharmacoepi, and outcomes research.

 

[chula505]

You should look at the APHA website to see the types of jobs available. There is also a website called "public health connections" that has a lot of information too. I don't have the url on hand right now but you can google it.

 

[Adcadet]

My conclusion from reading this thread is almost identical to what I saw from observing my MPH classmates during school and at graduation: if you want to be the person "in charge" (managing others, running a program, not doing data collection or data entry), you need some sort of combination of an advanced degree, some connections, and some experience - usually two out of the three. Does this really surprise anybody? Our health care system is run by some pretty educated/experienced people, and a master-level degree alone is really considered entry-level for many positions. I don't think this is that different from many other areas - business people with an MBA need experience to move up in the ranks and generally have some experience before their MBA. Engineers need either a bachelor's and a bunch of experience or a master's and some experience to run larger projects. Doing law work tends to require a JD. IT people frequently have significant experience and a bachelors degree or some experience and a master's degree.