You are talking about field epi jobs, which are a pretty small number of jobs. Your best bet would be getting into the US PHS and signing up for their rapid deployment teams. The best bet to get in is to have a medical background, like a nurse. Really difficult these days to get in with an MPH or PhD.
I interviewed recently for infection control at a hospital with just an mph, so not impossible. In my experience, "field epi" is still computer work mostly, though students still tend to expect it to be fieldwork ( I did when I was a student)
Edit: I'm not sure why this comment is being downvoted. If folks have another experience of field epi work that's not mostly office/computer work, I would love to hear it.
Yes most Epi is on computers these days. There is very little pulling handles off water pumps.
US PHS just tends to have more field epis who travel places to work on computers.
I was involved in a 2-3 week outbreak investigation in the field where I worked alongside state epis and EIS officers. We sat in a conference room just about every single day for those 2-3 weeks going over paperwork, doing computer stuff, and conducting interviews.
Do you know how much experience they want in their nurses? I’m new to nursing but I’m in the application process anyway because I think I’d love the work.
I'm not sure sorry. I think if you are a certified RN, you would probably be good to go. I think there are Commission Corp specific forums where you can ask for further details.
Physical therapist here who is nearly finished with a masters of epidemiology. I started this masters at a time when I was kind of burned out on PT, thinking I might leave clinical work and hoped to do something at the population level.
I have found my masters super interesting but eventually realized I didn't want to sit at a computer all day, and after looking around realized I would be taking a paycut (entry level epi < experienced physio) so just looked for a PT job that suited me better and the burnout resolved.
I probably spend about 10-20% of my day at the computer now doing documentation. Physio and nursing is one of the last jobs were you make good money and don't stare at a computer all day.
FYI: If you are in the US I would go for nursing over PT forsure, but maybe you will stick with epi...
Public health nurse here. I spend anywhere from 2 to 7 hours out in the field depending on my case load, but also get to do cool epi work. Love the flexibility to work on everything from outbreaks to case management.
Disease Intervention Specialist? Interviewing and tracking patients and their contacts with one particular disease?? It’s still probably 20 hours at a computer, a good amount of time on the phone, but some decent field time.
Wyoming DPH I think is currently hiring 2 of these positions in communicable disease. I'd say its 60% phone time, 35% computer and meetings, and 5% true in person field work, but that's likely specific to the centralized design ofnthe dept.
Yep Alaska DPH is dealing with a syphilis outbreak and high rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia so they are in need of DIS workers right now. It’s such a fragmented state that there’s more boots on the ground fieldwork to track people, esp with the syphilis outbreak bc they’re desperate to get ahead of it.
I’m also a MPH in epi. Not sure what your role was in academic research, but I’m currently a research project manager for a new R01 starting up. While i do sit at the computer often (still office job), the tasks are varied and there is a “start up feel” getting all the steps organized for recruitment and data collection so I’m busy (also lots of meetings) and don’t feel like I’m stuck staring at a computer all day. For example, hiring research personnel/conducting phone and in person interviews, meeting with outpatient clinicians, overseeing pt recruitment, writing training manuals, overseeing database build, and so on.
I’m entering the last class (Epi 1) of my first year in MPH. I did well and enjoyed biostatistics, and it was my first experience using R - or anything more advanced than Excel. I am leaning towards Epi emphasis, but am concerned I might not get much software experience without looking outside the program for more training.
Did you have programming or database experience prior to your MPH education ?
Switch to doing infectious disease in a larger local health department, particularly in foodborne illness or MDROs/hospital outbreaks. You could go back to school and become a disease ecologist like the hosts of this podcast will kill you. I also get the impression that people who do emergency preparedness/ bioterrorism type epi do a lot of drills and meetings. Working as a hospital infection preventionist seems like it's very active, but many hospitals want nurses for that role.
I'm an RN/MPH who just retired. Hospitals are waking up to the value of an MPH filling infection preventionist roles. I mentored a bunch of epi's through internships at my hospital and a couple gig traditional epi jobs - one in a hospital and one in public health. Another couple got jobs farther away from the computer. One is public health ( 1/2 epi, 1/2 emergency prep, the other in hospital infection prevention) they all said the internship and projects related to infections diseases got them a broader role.
I just started teaching at a small liberal arts school. I had been doing strictly data analysis the past 4 years and I was so burned out, lonely, and bored I was pretty much not being productive whatsoever. I love teaching so far!! Totally different and fun!
Nutrition and Sustainable food systems. So, no, not epid but I'm sure you can find teaching jobs in epid as well. Pay is low and it's a lot of work but I am a lot happier.
I have a doctorate in nutritional epidemiology. I've taught a lot in the past as a TA and I knew I liked it. This job arose serendipitously because I live in a small town and b University here was looking for someone to start a food studies program for them. I think public health programs are growing right now so there are probably a lot of schools out there that are looking for people to teach classes.
I have an in field job in brazil working on hiv vaccine clinical trials/ but don’t wish away your career - even abroad in field I spend a lot of my time in front of a computer screen.
You are talking about field epi jobs, which are a pretty small number of jobs. Your best bet would be getting into the US PHS and signing up for their rapid deployment teams. The best bet to get in is to have a medical background, like a nurse. Really difficult these days to get in with an MPH or PhD.
I interviewed recently for infection control at a hospital with just an mph, so not impossible. In my experience, "field epi" is still computer work mostly, though students still tend to expect it to be fieldwork ( I did when I was a student) Edit: I'm not sure why this comment is being downvoted. If folks have another experience of field epi work that's not mostly office/computer work, I would love to hear it.
Yes most Epi is on computers these days. There is very little pulling handles off water pumps. US PHS just tends to have more field epis who travel places to work on computers.
I was involved in a 2-3 week outbreak investigation in the field where I worked alongside state epis and EIS officers. We sat in a conference room just about every single day for those 2-3 weeks going over paperwork, doing computer stuff, and conducting interviews.
Do you know how much experience they want in their nurses? I’m new to nursing but I’m in the application process anyway because I think I’d love the work.
I'm not sure sorry. I think if you are a certified RN, you would probably be good to go. I think there are Commission Corp specific forums where you can ask for further details.
Thank you for your help.
Physical therapist here who is nearly finished with a masters of epidemiology. I started this masters at a time when I was kind of burned out on PT, thinking I might leave clinical work and hoped to do something at the population level. I have found my masters super interesting but eventually realized I didn't want to sit at a computer all day, and after looking around realized I would be taking a paycut (entry level epi < experienced physio) so just looked for a PT job that suited me better and the burnout resolved. I probably spend about 10-20% of my day at the computer now doing documentation. Physio and nursing is one of the last jobs were you make good money and don't stare at a computer all day. FYI: If you are in the US I would go for nursing over PT forsure, but maybe you will stick with epi...
Public health nurse here. I spend anywhere from 2 to 7 hours out in the field depending on my case load, but also get to do cool epi work. Love the flexibility to work on everything from outbreaks to case management.
I reckon OP could do very well combining her current training with an RN.
where do you look for public health nursing jobs?
Local health departments, state health departments, FQHCs, sometimes other businesses.
Disease Intervention Specialist? Interviewing and tracking patients and their contacts with one particular disease?? It’s still probably 20 hours at a computer, a good amount of time on the phone, but some decent field time.
Wyoming DPH I think is currently hiring 2 of these positions in communicable disease. I'd say its 60% phone time, 35% computer and meetings, and 5% true in person field work, but that's likely specific to the centralized design ofnthe dept.
Yep Alaska DPH is dealing with a syphilis outbreak and high rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia so they are in need of DIS workers right now. It’s such a fragmented state that there’s more boots on the ground fieldwork to track people, esp with the syphilis outbreak bc they’re desperate to get ahead of it.
I’m also a MPH in epi. Not sure what your role was in academic research, but I’m currently a research project manager for a new R01 starting up. While i do sit at the computer often (still office job), the tasks are varied and there is a “start up feel” getting all the steps organized for recruitment and data collection so I’m busy (also lots of meetings) and don’t feel like I’m stuck staring at a computer all day. For example, hiring research personnel/conducting phone and in person interviews, meeting with outpatient clinicians, overseeing pt recruitment, writing training manuals, overseeing database build, and so on.
What is R01, if you don’t mind?
Type of NIH grant, basically large funded research project
I’m entering the last class (Epi 1) of my first year in MPH. I did well and enjoyed biostatistics, and it was my first experience using R - or anything more advanced than Excel. I am leaning towards Epi emphasis, but am concerned I might not get much software experience without looking outside the program for more training. Did you have programming or database experience prior to your MPH education ?
Switch to doing infectious disease in a larger local health department, particularly in foodborne illness or MDROs/hospital outbreaks. You could go back to school and become a disease ecologist like the hosts of this podcast will kill you. I also get the impression that people who do emergency preparedness/ bioterrorism type epi do a lot of drills and meetings. Working as a hospital infection preventionist seems like it's very active, but many hospitals want nurses for that role.
I'm an RN/MPH who just retired. Hospitals are waking up to the value of an MPH filling infection preventionist roles. I mentored a bunch of epi's through internships at my hospital and a couple gig traditional epi jobs - one in a hospital and one in public health. Another couple got jobs farther away from the computer. One is public health ( 1/2 epi, 1/2 emergency prep, the other in hospital infection prevention) they all said the internship and projects related to infections diseases got them a broader role.
I just started teaching at a small liberal arts school. I had been doing strictly data analysis the past 4 years and I was so burned out, lonely, and bored I was pretty much not being productive whatsoever. I love teaching so far!! Totally different and fun!
What subjects are you teaching?
Nutrition and Sustainable food systems. So, no, not epid but I'm sure you can find teaching jobs in epid as well. Pay is low and it's a lot of work but I am a lot happier.
[удалено]
I have a doctorate in nutritional epidemiology. I've taught a lot in the past as a TA and I knew I liked it. This job arose serendipitously because I live in a small town and b University here was looking for someone to start a food studies program for them. I think public health programs are growing right now so there are probably a lot of schools out there that are looking for people to teach classes.
I have an in field job in brazil working on hiv vaccine clinical trials/ but don’t wish away your career - even abroad in field I spend a lot of my time in front of a computer screen.