<p>I've always been fascinated by infectious disease especially zoonotic diseases like Ebola and HIV/AIDS.</p>
<p>Which would be a better path to the front lines per say of emerging pathogen research? I also want to join the CDC Epidemic Intelligence unit. </p>
<p>Ps I am still in hs</p>
<p>Here are the requirements for the Epidemic Intelligence Service:
<a href=“http://www.cdc.gov/EIS/Eligibility.html”>http://www.cdc.gov/EIS/Eligibility.html</a></p>
<p>There are several pathways to get there.</p>
<p>Minor point of clarification, a zoonotic disease is one that is transmitted directly from animals to humans. HIV hasn’t been a zoonotic infection for probably 50+ years.</p>
<p>To your point, I don’t know much about DVM/PhDs other than that my department has a couple of them. It’s a very interesting option for basic science research given the abundance of animal models.</p>
<p>It looks like studentdoctornetwork got rid of the DVM/PhD section. You’d have to post in either the Physician Scientist or Vet sections.</p>
<p>I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure the EIS is mostly a monitoring/surveillance group. If you want to be doing real research into how these infections work, you’d probably be still looking to go into academia.</p>
<p>@i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown I actually want to do both. EIS service terms are 2 years in length so it’s not a life commitment. </p>
<p>Your point about AIDS is well taken and there are plenty of nonzoonotic pathogens like TB that warrant research so perhaps an MD might work better. Plus working with Doctors Without Borders would be very rewarding. </p>
<p>My main concern is the lack of vet schools that also have a public health school/graduate program in disease ecology. I can only name Cornell, UPenn, and Illinois.</p>
<p>I’ve looked into Emory’s MD/PhD in disease ecology program. Do you think being in Atlanta will help me network and get a better chance at EIS?</p>
<p>I’ve got a lot of time to make this decision though. Thanks </p>
<p>ooooh, sorry, i misunderstood the EIS program.</p>
<p>In terms of DVM/PhD. You wouldn’t need a PhD in disease ecology (I’ve never even heard of that field). A PhD in either biological sciences or epidemiology/statistics would be more than adequate for the type of work you want to do. PhDs are not really about the specific knowledge you learn. They’re degrees in thought processes and procedures and can be pretty easy to translate from one field to the next.</p>
<p>Even if you want to work with a non zoonotic disease, animal models are still fundamental to infectious disease research so it’s not like a DVM would preclude you from studying infections that transmit human to human.</p>
<p>@i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown disease ecology is an emerging field, the NSF gave it prioroty not too long ago. That’s my primary academic interest. The clinical degree is secondary.</p>
<p>my point is just not to limit yourself to disease ecology programs. You can still wind up there from other, more readily available routes. I did a little googling and I see what disease ecology is about - sounds cool. If clinical medicine (either human or animal) isn’t critical to your goals then don’t bother with the clinical degree. In college, you’ll be able to expose yourself to scientists and physician scientists (and hopefully some DVM/PhDs) who will help you figure out what it is you really want to do (and even then it will still probably change).</p>
<p>Also, there are only 28 vet schools in the country. It takes a lot a veterinary focused effort- animal work, shadowing to get in, just like med school but a lot fewer schools. And vet school is primarily about learning to be a practicing vet. So if a clinical degree is secondary I agree w/ IWBB; there may be better routes to getting to the career you want.</p>