For those looking to embark on a rewarding career in public health, and those who have an interest in studying infectious diseases, a chronic disease medical epidemiologist career may be a perfect fit. These professionals work in public health and enjoy high salaries as well as stable job opportunities that provide a great deal of room for growth.
The public health field is a growing one that is proving to remain stable even during unstable economic times, and this leads to an entire sector offering a wide variety of different jobs great for professionals looking for a stable career opportunity. Chronic disease medical epidemiologists enjoy an exciting career that allows them to grow personally as well as professionally.
What Is A Chronic Disease Medical Epidemiologist?
The study of epidemiology is the study of infectious diseases, and the study of chronic disease epidemiology is the study of infectious diseases of a chronic nature. Some of these diseases may include cancers, HIV, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, or pulmonary disease, and it is the role of a chronic disease epidemiologist to study these various diseases and determine their root causes, effect on public health, potential solutions, and current trends. The work these professionals provide is crucial to the advancement of medicine and research in terms of chronic disease, and they provide a great service to a public’s overall level of health.
Nature of Work
Some of the daily tasks of a chronic disease medical epidemiologist may be:
- Creating new procedures to use while researching or analyzing data related to a variety of different chronic infectious diseases
- Implementing new research methods
- Testing samples or analyzing testing results
- Using research findings to find the root cause of many different chronic diseases
- Identifying risk factors that may lead to an outbreak or the presence of chronic diseases within a population, and making correlations between lifestyle choices and the presence of such diseases.
- Performing tests to come up with solutions, cures, or ways to curb the spread of various chronic diseases
Chronic disease can be devastating to a population, particularly when these diseases are infectious or have the ability to spread. A chronic disease medical epidemiologist is tasked with studying a wide variety of different chronic disease, and these scientifically minded individuals are responsible for many of the medical advancements in chronic disease that populations see today.
Education And Training
A chronic disease medical epidemiologist will typically need to reach a master’s degree level in order to find employment in the field, and before earning a master’s degree in epidemiology one must first start at an undergraduate level to pass all necessary undergraduate courses.
At the undergraduate level, a person will want to major in epidemiology or a related scientific or health care field such as biology or chemistry, and they will also want to place a focus within their studies on public health. This 4 year program will explore many facets of epidemiology and public health, and provide a student with a well-rounded foundation of knowledge of the field.
After the earning of a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree in epidemiology is then to be earned. A master’s degree in epidemiology should be sought with a specialized focus on chronic diseases, and this 2 year program will consist of hands on study as well as coursework. When choosing a specialized study field such as chronic disease, a person will also typically complete a fellowship or practicum program to allow them to work alongside professional epidemiologists in the field of chronic disease in order to gain some professional insight and experience.
Upon the completion of a fellowship or practicum program, a certification program may then be taken to give a person certification in the field of chronic disease epidemiology. This certification program will typically last around 1 year and professionals will need to renew their certification periodically through continued education if they wish to remain certified.
The need for epidemiologists in all specialties, including those specializing in chronic disease, is expected to rise by about 10% by the year 2022, meaning there are many job available to qualified professionals both now and in the future. The average chronic disease medical epidemiologist may also expect to earn a salary of around $65,000 per year.
