Questions to current Epidemiologists

[Fearingviper2]

Hello,

I wanted to ask those who are currently employed as Epidemiologists a couple of questions.

1) Are you satisfied with your job?( Hours, salary, etc)

2) Do you feel that you are making a difference?

3) What do you like and hate most about your job?

4) Was it difficult to find a job as an epidemiologist?

5) What advice do you have for current MPH(epidemiology) students who want to enter into the field?

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[CrazyLikeAFox]

I would also like to hear from people currently working.

 

[Fearingviper2]

Bump.


Anyone? lol

 

[Seci]

Try emailing any Dept. of Health in the country. Every state has a preventative health epidemiology unit and they are more than willing to talk about their experiences. Public health is a rather small field so your local epidemiologist might have even gone to your school of interest.

 

[Kevin36]

I'm not employed as an epidemiologist (even though my Master's is in epi) but I do work in public health as a regional bioterrorism/preparedness coordinator (Cities Readiness Initiative). I work with a lot of epis, so I'll take a shot since no one else really did.

1) I'm satisfied with my job but also looking to move up or to a more epi focused position. Salary is ok, but its government work, we just don't make as much money as corporate folks do. Hours are good; I rarely have to work overtime. This experience is probably pretty typical of the epis I work with.

2) Am I making a difference? That's hard to gauge in my field, there just aren't a lot of large scale emergencies. We were able to set up H1N1 clinics fairly well. I do feel that I personally am making a difference to the health departments I work with as I've really been able to act as a subject matter expert for Strategic National Stockpile response planning and have used some of my epi skills for survey design and analysis; but this helped the departments more than the actual population.

3) The things I like about my job are helping the emergency planners who want to learn and make a difference. I also like when I put together a tool that is useful for our response efforts without spending a ton of money (I hate throwing money at a problem rather than thinking it through). The things I hate about my job are the constant misinformation that we receive and working with people who are simply a-holes, but you will find them in any career.

4) I just received my MSc and haven't really tried. I've moved up in the preparedness side fairly easily with only a Bachelor's, there are a lot of jobs open in this field and some health department's have planner/epi positions, so you get introduced to both sides.

5) Define what you want to do with your degree and make sure you are qualified to do it when you get out of school. Focus your internship on what you want to do. If you want to work for a department of health (government) prepare yourself for a modest salary at first. Also if you want to work for a governmental agency prepare yourself to be asked to do a wide variety of tasks and be prepared to continue to learn new things.

Just my 2 cents

Hello,

I wanted to ask those who are currently employed as Epidemiologists a couple of questions.

1) Are you satisfied with your job?( Hours, salary, etc)

2) Do you feel that you are making a difference?

3) What do you like and hate most about your job?

4) Was it difficult to find a job as an epidemiologist?

5) What advice do you have for current MPH(epidemiology) students who want to enter into the field?

 

[snackerina]

Hi everyone. in what ways can a veterinarian work as an epidemilogist.I have been recently considering if epi is for me.i am interested in disease containment, public health preparedness, zoonotic diseases.have a slight interest in environmental health too.
I hate routine work....
I like work that is flexible and presents new challenges more often than not.

is it easier for those with a MD /EPIdegree to get jobs ?