Infectious Disease Epidemiology Questions

[numbersloth]

I'm a current junior in college. I'm very interested in infectious disease epidemiology at both the MPH and PhD level. I have some questions about undergrad preparation and the infectious diseases in general:

(1) I'm currently an Anthropology Major and Biology and Mathematics Minor. Should I switch biology to my major? I'm particularly interested in disease dynamics and modeling. I'm actually also interested in the kind of work that would be done on the more computational side of a ecology and evolutionary biology lab working on pathogens and disease dynamics, if that gives any indication. But I'm also interested in the social side, especially mapping and modeling slum health and infectious diseases in developing urban countries. 

(2) If I want to do extensive fieldwork in other countries (see above for slum health interests), is academia the only way to do this? Do I need a clinical degree as well (MD?) in order to do extensive field work?

[Billowack]

In answer to your first question, I definitely don't think you need to switch your major to biology. Especially as you are already a junior. In this field, I think you'll find that your undergrad degree is fairly meaningless once you get past grad school admissions. Not to say that it is completely unimportant, but once you get past a certain level, little attention is paid to the undergrad major. You can be just as successful (if not more so) with a degree outside of the typical "hard science" realm, so that's not something I would worry about over much. 

As for your second questions, it really depends on if you want to work on the clinical side or not. If your only interest in "slum health" is mapping and modeling, then you could probably wouldn't need to go the MD route. I think the best thing you can do is talk to professionals working in this area. You seem to have some pretty specific interests and I think there are many professors and working professionals who would be willing to respond with their thoughts to a well written email describing your interests and asking for general advice. 

[tommec]

On 1/5/2017 at 0:45 PM, Billowack said:

II definitely don't think you need to switch your major to biology. 

 

I second this! I don't see a point in switching. I also did a math minor. =) I think that shows that you have the analytical mindset in itself. 

[EpidemHopeful]

Don't worry about your major too much. I think having an Anthropology degree would really bring something novel to your background. However, I would encourage you to double major instead, as it sounds like you would be a really great fit as a biostatistician within epidemiology. If you are interested in an epidemiology Ph.D., I would consider looking into biostats as a Master's as well, or as a concentration. There is a need for biostats currently, too, so you could potentially be more employable.  

[jacckk32]

hii

   welcome to this forum site , here you can find many information about health and many types of diseases  . your question is about infectious diseases  according to me the purpose is  to better understand the burden and causesof health problems in human populations, andto make changes that decrease risk and improve health.

 

 

 

[EpiNYC]

On 12/28/2016 at 2:04 PM, numbersloth said:

I'm a current junior in college. I'm very interested in infectious disease epidemiology at both the MPH and PhD level. I have some questions about undergrad preparation and the infectious diseases in general:

(1) I'm currently an Anthropology Major and Biology and Mathematics Minor. Should I switch biology to my major? I'm particularly interested in disease dynamics and modeling. I'm actually also interested in the kind of work that would be done on the more computational side of a ecology and evolutionary biology lab working on pathogens and disease dynamics, if that gives any indication. But I'm also interested in the social side, especially mapping and modeling slum health and infectious diseases in developing urban countries. 

(2) If I want to do extensive fieldwork in other countries (see above for slum health interests), is academia the only way to do this? Do I need a clinical degree as well (MD?) in order to do extensive field work?

I would echo others in that there is no need to switch, but I would pursue lab/research work or internships related to your current interests so as to showcase those interests to a prospective admissions committee. The sort of modelling you are talking about is in a grey area in terms of fields, (the former part regarding disease dynamics), as my own professors who are trained infectious disease epidemiologists admitted they themselves have never done/trained to do that sort of modelling. That's more of the work on the side of a biologist. But once again, grey area, it could just mean not every MPH program you look at will have courses that cover the actual 'how to do it.'

Additionally, qualitative research and/or mixed-methods research is growing in the field of Public Health, and having that skillets as an anthropologist would certainly help!

As for fieldwork, at least in Public Health, I really don't think you necessarily need to be in academia and you definitely do not need to have a clinical degree (depending on what it is you want to do), you just need to have the credentials (i.e. PhD or MPH). Many of my professors are often consulting and literally travelling all over the world. They often consult for NGOs or other field-based organizations in other parts of the world or consult with the WHO. I think what allows you to do that sort of fieldwork is having the credentials to say I'm an expert in X, Y, and Z.