Epidemiologists
Health Science > Diagnostic ServicesProjected Growth: Average
Projected Job Openings
Extensive Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to Investigate and describe the determinants and distribution of disease, disability, or health outcomes. May develop the means for prevention and control.
Common job titles of Epidemiologists include:
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Experience and Education
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
60% said they needed a Master's Degree.
23.33% said they needed a Doctoral Degree.
Tasks
Plan and direct studies to investigate human or animal disease, preventive methods, and treatments for disease.
Supervise professional, technical, and clerical personnel.
Oversee public health programs, including statistical analysis, health care planning, surveillance systems, and public health improvement.
Monitor and report incidents of infectious diseases to local and state health agencies.
Provide expertise in the design, management and evaluation of study protocols and health status questionnaires, sample selection, and analysis.
Plan, administer and evaluate health safety standards and programs to improve public health, conferring with health department, industry personnel, physicians, and others.
Educate healthcare workers, patients, and the public about infectious and communicable diseases, including disease transmission and prevention.
Communicate research findings on various types of diseases to health practitioners, policy makers, and the public.
Teach principles of medicine and medical and laboratory procedures to physicians, residents, students, and technicians.
Identify and analyze public health issues related to foodborne parasitic diseases and their impact on public policies, scientific studies, or surveys.
Consult with and advise physicians, educators, researchers, government health officials and others regarding medical applications of sciences, such as physics, biology, and chemistry.
Conduct research to develop methodologies, instrumentation, and procedures for medical application, analyzing data and presenting findings.
Investigate diseases or parasites to determine cause and risk factors, progress, life cycle, or mode of transmission.
Prepare and analyze samples to study effects of drugs, gases, pesticides, or microorganisms on cell structure and tissue.
Standardize drug dosages, methods of immunization, and procedures for manufacture of drugs and medicinal compounds.
Tools
Personal computers
Laptop computers
Desktop computers
Technologies
Geographic information system GIS software
IBM SPSS Statistics
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC WONDER
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epi Info
Circle Systems Stat/Transfer
Cytel Egret
Data mining software
All TechnologiesData visualization software
Disease Mapping and Analysis Program DMAP
Epicenter Software Epilog
EpiData Analysis
Esri ArcGIS
ESRI ArcView
Expert Health Data Programming Vitalnet
GeoDa
HiroSoft EPICURE
Meta-analysis with interactive explanations MIX
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH Life Table Analysis System
Pan American Health Organization SIGEpi
RTI International SUDAAN
SaTScan
Signal detection software
Statistical processing software
TerraSeer ClusterSeer
World Health Organization HealthMapper
Skills
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Persuasion
Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Abilities
Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Problem Sensitivity
Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Comprehension
Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Comprehension
Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Deductive Reasoning
Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Inductive Reasoning
Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Expression
Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Expression
Generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Category Flexibility
See details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Sensory Abilities › Visual Abilities › Near Vision
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Fluency of Ideas
Choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Quantitative Abilities › Mathematical Reasoning