The Epidemiology Elective Program (EEP) introduces senior medical and veterinary students to preventive medicine, public health, and applied epidemiology through hands-on experience and mentorship by CDC epidemiologists. This year-round program offers 6 to 8 week assignments, depending on the student’s program of study and elective schedule. Most assignments are based at CDC in Atlanta, GA. More information is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/epielective/
Individual elective experiences vary depending on circumstances, but our goal is to provide students with exposure to the core public health functions of surveillance and outbreak response. Some students are able to participat in Epi-Aid field investigations.
The student will be provided with a work station including a computer. No other equipment is required. CDC has many lectures, didactic sessions, online training modules, and other resources to which students will have access. The epi elective program also provides some training materials separate from the host site. Interested students are encouraged to take advantage of opportunites to learn statistical software and to participate in public health analyses.
Students are expected to come to the office 5 days a week M-F (federal holidays are off) from roughly 9:00 am to 5:30 PM (hours may be shifter earlier). The student will have a supervisor who will provide project resources and meet with the student on a regular basis to check in; however, students are expected to work on projects independently. Staff members are always available to answer questions if needed.
Assignments may include:
- data collection and analysis,
- surveillance of a public health problem or disease,
- drafting public health guidelines, and
- participating in Epi-Aid investigations.
Students do not receive a stipend and are responsible for round-trip transportation to their assigned location and living expenses. A reasonable accommodation housing list is provided to students. If students are assigned to an Epi-Aid during the elective, CDC will fund any Epi-Aid-related travel.