By: Anagha S.
In these times of COVID-19, how does this epidemiology play a part?
Welcome to another post at Ana Health Avenue! For our “Medical Field of the Month” post, I decided to dive deeper into the field of epidemiology! Epidemiology deals with the start of diseases, and how they spread. Epidemiologists also study how to cure said diseases.
Before we start, I just want to say thank you reader for taking the time to go through this post! Hope you learn something from it!
Table of Contents
- What is Epidemiology, and why is it important?
- What are the requirements to go into the field of epidemiology?
- Times in history when epidemiology played a big role.
- Epidemiologist salary and job description.
- Summary of Epidemiology
- Sources!
What is Epidemiology, and why is it important?
Epidemiology is a field of medicine which deals with the origin, distribution, and control of diseases. It also covers aspects of public health.
A real-life example of epidemiology in our lives today is the COVID-19 pandemic. Epidemiologists are working 24/7 to control and track the coronavirus. The reason this branch is so important is that it helps prevent health hazards from harming the public.
By tracking diseases, they work to determine what health services are needed to make sure the public stays safe.
What are the requirements to go into the field of epidemiology?
There are different jobs in the field of epidemiology, and the most popular one that comes to mind is an epidemiologist. But with the same education, you could become a research analyst, nurse, or clinic director.
But, for today’s post, we’re going to focus on the path to becoming an epidemiologist!
According to an article on how to become an epidemiologist(link in Sources), the path to becoming an epidemiologist is pretty extensive.
First, you have to get a bachelor’s degree, with coursework that covers biological sciences, physics, and/or public health. You must exceed and show your potential in your bachelor’s degree because then it will be easier to get into medical school, and/or obtain a master’s degree.
Next up is…you guessed it: medical school or a master’s degree. If you wish to become an epidemiologist who works in the field and deals with patients with infectious diseases, medical school is a must.
But, if you wish to work on academic research, then a Master’s degree, followed by a Ph.D. would be in your best interest.
In medical school, the aspiring doctor would work on fully understanding the human body and the diseases that are present. As you advance in your coursework, which usually consists of classes on clinical ethics, epidemiologic theory, and infectious diseases, you will start to work in a clinic(supervised).
Now, about the Master’s and/or Ph.D. Some doctor-lings(like what I did there?) will first go to medical school, then get further education(like a Master’s) to keep the option of epidemiologic research open. A Master’s degree program focuses on the statistical aspect of epidemiology. It will delve deep into the spread and control of various infectious diseases.
Next, we are going to talk about a residency. This is where clinical experience is solidified(under the supervision of an existing doctor).
A fellowship is after residency, and it usually reinforces clinical experience(optional).
Licensing happens throughout your education in 3 steps, the last step most likely happening after you complete your residency.
Times in history when epidemiology played a big role.
2020 so far has been a year for the history books. COVID-19 has taken the world by storm, and epidemiology is at the center of the effort to track and prevent further spread of this disease.
But, this is not the only pandemic that the world has experienced. In this section, I am going to go over the most well-known pandemics in history.
Polio
While according to a Polio timeline here online(link in Sources), there were sporadic cases of polio before dated history, the first outbreak of polio in the United States was in 1894.
By 1916, it has become a full-blown pandemic.
FDR contracted polio in 1921, thus changing the public’s perception of it. Organizations were created and charity balls held, but the work on a polio vaccine didn’t begin until 1947, when Jonas Salk, a scientist, created it.
According to an article about Jonas Salk(link in Sources), he was appointed director of the Virus Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh.
He and his team then developed a successful vaccination for polio that decreased the number of cases by 80%-90%.
Spanish Flu
The 1918 influenza pandemic is said to be “the most severe pandemic in recent history”, according to an article by the CDC(link in Sources).
The number of deaths worldwide was said to be 50 million people, with about 675,000 in the United States.
Because there was not a vaccine developed for this, isolation and good hygiene was implemented to prevent the further spread of the disease, not unlike the self-quarantine that was initially implemented in March. This pandemic helped epidemiologists afterward to prepare for future outbreaks.
HIV-AIDS
This pandemic started around 1981, and the whole world was affected. According to an article about epidemiology by NIH(link in Sources), scientists had to find new ways to track and control this disease.
Many people contracted it, but fortunately, treatment became highly available everywhere, including sub-Saharan Africa.
Now, the rate of people who contract it is significantly lower, and people who have it already can get treatment and live a healthy life due to epidemiologists and other infectious disease doctors working to help people affected by HIV-AIDS.
COVID-19
Now, even though this pandemic hasn’t been 100% solved yet, I believe that someday the future generations will look back on this time and learn from it.
To help stop the spread of this virus, stay at home orders were put into place, face masks were recommended in public, etc. But, epidemiologists(who mainly do research work) are working around the clock along with other scientists to find a vaccine. As for people who are infected, epidemiologists(who work with patients) help them recover.
Epidemiologist salary and job description.
If you have read to here, kudos to you! I really appreciate you taking the time to read this post!
If your interest in becoming an epidemiologist has been piqued, or if you’ve already wanted to become one for some time now, definitely read this section.
We’ve already gone over the education requirements needed to become an epidemiologist, now we are going to talk about the salary and what being an epidemiologist is about.
But, first, what is the average salary of an epidemiologist?
After all those long, hard, and grueling years of education, how much are you going to get paid?
According to a salary report(link in Sources), the average annual salary for an epidemiologist in the United States (at the time of this post) is $97,156. The typical range usually falls between $83,304 and $116,386. The average epidemiologist makes about $47 an hour.
Now, these are pretty accurate numbers because they are from late May 2020. Remember, that these numbers could vary due to more education or work experience.
As for what epidemiologists do daily, they plan investigations into infectious diseases, they oversee public health standards, while also communicating their research progress, to name a few of the things they do. The people most suited for this job would be people who honestly enjoy using science to help the world!
Summary of Epidemiology.
Well, this is it! We are at the end of Ana Health Avenue’s very first “Medical Field of the Month” post!
Now, I am just going to summarize everything I said in this post in a few sentences.
So, basically, epidemiology is the medical field that deals with the origin, spread, and control methods of infectious diseases. It is important because the people in this fieldwork to keep the public safe from global health hazards.
If you want to be an epidemiologist who works with patients, you would need to have completed your Bachelor’s degree, medical school, residency, fellowship(optional), and licensing.
As for being an epidemiological researcher, you would have needed to complete your Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, and Ph.D.
In this post, we talked about how epidemiology has played a role in history, especially in the outbreaks/ epidemics of polio, Spanish flu, HIV-AIDS, and most recently, COVID-19.
Last, we talked about the average salary of an epidemiologist, which was $97,156. We also talked about the daily life of an epidemiologist, which includes many scientific investigations and staff management.
And, now….we’re done! I want to thank you reader for taking the time to go through this article! . Check out my previous post, as well as my site.
Last, but not least, please subscribe to my blog and and Instagram to make sure you never miss a post or update!
I really hope you learned more about epidemiology from this post, and it is on that note which I say…thanks for reading! -Anagha
Sources!
*These are the websites I used to collect more information for this post…be sure to check them out!
– History of Salk by Salk
–How to become an Epidemiologist by Doctorly.org
–The Role of Epidemiology in challenging the HIV-AIDS Pandemic by NIH
Thanks Anagha! This was VERY helpful
Glad I could help you!-Anagha