This is very similar to my story. I wanted to be a doctor ever since I could remember and realized I’m actually better suited for public health. I love science so I still wanted something more science related so I thought epi was perfect!
I really appreciate hearing your track to your career. I’m currently in the process of applying to PA school and I’ve had a couple barriers and it’s made me think about my career choices. I know that becoming a PA is a long road and so I’ve considered becoming an epidemiologist in the meantime, and that it might actually be more so what I want do.
omgsh Thank you for posting this. I was literally in the same boat and right before the pandemic hit, I was about to apply to nursing school. I realized everything I loved about nursing was more public health and disease control. do you know if there are any remote options? thank you! and thank you for all that you do! ❤
I am considering going to medical school. I have an MPH in epidemiology and am almost done with my PhD in epidemiology. An MD/Do physician can do epidemiology work, but a PhD epidemiologist cannot do a physician's work (diagnose, treat, prescribe, surgery, etc.). Epidemiology (and biostatistics) is easy to learn. If you have a question about epidemiology, you can ask chatGPT, but you cannot ask ChatGPT to diagnose, treat, prescribe, do surgery on you, etc. Many epidemiologist positions require an MD/DO degree or even a nursing license. For example, many state epidemiologist positions require you to have an MD/DO and they don't even take PhD epidemiologists. Why don't they take PhD epidemiologists? I have no idea. Perhaps we are not knowledgeable in pathology and not able to diagnose or treat. The physician's pay is much higher than a PhD epidemiologist pay. A physician can work part-time and still make a lot more money than an epidemiologist. Physicians worklife balance is a lot better It is hard to find epidemiologists jobs nowadays, especially in places like Nevada. You'd have to broaden your job search terms to things like "Data analyst" or "public health". The high-paying data science jobs requires you to have knowledge and experience with machine learning, which is not normally taught to epidemiologists at the masters or doctorate level.
Greetings, Maddy I am currently researching Epidemiology Programs. What is your opinion on employers preference for those who graduated from Nationally accredited program like WASC vs. Regional accredited like CEPH? Your response would be greatly appreciated.
Lots of sitting in front of a computer and coding for statistical analyses. And maybe lots of writing and talking to people on how to collect data or deliver interventions. This happens even when we get sent to the field overseas.
@@q_q123 Hi. It depends on the job. When I was doing the PhD and working for a global health epi team, it's about 1-2 trips per year, 2 weeks to 2 months each, to different countries each time. Mostly solo trips to unfamiliar places. I was working in a consulting capacity, essentially helping to the local data collection team familiarize themselves with the study instruments, observing the data collection process, cleaning and analyzing the collected data, and communicating my supervisor and the funding agency. Loved it. Right now I am in academia, and overseas trips are mostly for conferences, guest lectures, building collaborations, and student recruitment. Also lovely.
