Epidemiologist jobs are plentiful and can be found in a variety of settings. Epidemiologists can work for a university, a research institute, or a hospital. Epidemiologist jobs are also available from a variety of local, state, and federal agencies. Epidemiologists look at the overall health of a population rather than individual health. They are usually divided into two categories: research epidemiologists and clinical epidemiologists.
Private research firms, colleges, and medical schools frequently hire research epidemiologists. They conduct research in order to control or eliminate infectious diseases. Some epidemiologists specialize in specific areas of the body, such as finding treatments for infections in the brain, while others specialize in a specific disease, such as AIDS.
Hospitals employ clinical epidemiologists. They could be practicing physicians with specialized training, or they could just be epidemiologists. A clinical epidemiologist’s job is to educate hospital staff on how to effectively control infectious disease and to plan for and respond to outbreaks. Another requirement of this position is the creation of official guidelines for the hospital’s routine treatment and disease control. Epidemiologists who work in hospitals are frequently certified by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and are known as infection control experts.
As an epidemiologist, you can get training in a variety of ways. A master’s degree in public health is required for epidemiologist jobs. Many epidemiologists go on to complete a PhD or M.D. program.
Continuing education expands your career options. Many universities, for example, require their professors to have a PhD. To administer drugs, epidemiologists conducting clinical trials must be licensed physicians. The epidemiologist must work under the supervision of a licensed physician if they do not have this license.
The responsibilities of various epidemiologist jobs vary depending on the location of employment. An epidemiologist working in a small town or city’s health department will be responsible for a variety of tasks. He or she may provide health education, develop programs aimed at specific populations, such as reducing teenage pregnancy or assisting people in quitting smoking, develop policies for the health department to ensure public safety, and be prepared to assume responsibility in the event of an infectious disease outbreak. These epidemiologists are in charge of managing annual influenza vaccination schedules and ensuring that children starting school are properly vaccinated.
Working as an epidemiologist in a large research facility is very different from working as an epidemiologist in a small research facility. A researcher may devote years, if not a lifetime, to finding an effective treatment for a single disease. This is a highly specialized field, and epidemiologists frequently specialize after years of research and study. This type of research can take years to produce results, but it is a rewarding career.