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Update: The State of the
Epidemiology Job Market |
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Author: Madeline Roberts, PhD, MPH Last month we covered the current state of the epidemiology job market, which holds good news in that the market is finding value in epidemiologists. We also asked EpiMonitor readers to participate in a job survey in order to understand what epidemiologists are looking for in their next position. We received 30 responses. EpiMonitor reaches approximately 35,000 readers each month, so, as epidemiologists ourselves, we recognize substantive potential for non-response bias. Nonetheless, here are some findings: ♦ Nearly 40% of respondents anticipated searching for their next job this year, with 27% beginning the search next year. ♦ One out of three respondents held their current positions for one year or less. ♦ Just over 25% of respondents reported holding their current positions for five years or more. ♦ Location was the number one most important job search criteria, closely followed by salary. Cost and availability of local housing also ranked highly, as did health insurance. Respondents ranked public job boards as most valuable for their job search, followed by EpiMonitor. ♦ Those who responded were predominately looking for positions within academia. ♦ In response to, “What position are you looking for in your next job?”, Assistant Professor (23%) was the most common response followed by Associate Professor (13%). These statistics largely align with the research. For example, one study reported a trend of turnover rates being highest among workers with the shortest tenure (five years or less) at state and local health departments. But supplementing quantitative data with qualitative data, and particularly with someone that is actively hiring in this space, gives a more comprehensive picture. So, EpiMonitor interviewed Dr. Dennis Gorman, the Search Committee Chair for tenure track positions in the Epidemiology & Biostatistics Department at the Texas A&M School of Public Health. They recently completed their hiring search for five faculty members, previously advertised on EpiMonitor. Dr. Gorman communicated several things of interest. Qualities they were looking for in candidates included strong methodological training and research skills, the ability to obtain external funding, and capacity to teach two classes per semester. Here at EpiMonitor, in reflecting on our own graduate school experiences, we would encourage PhD candidates to actively seek out opportunities to participate in the grant writing process while still in school. Student experience/participation in grant writing may be underemphasized in some programs, but the value to the student for future employment is clear. Dr. Gorman expressed one challenge they encountered was that while they had hoped to recruit faculty at various stages of their careers, they ultimately hired one Associate Professor and four Assistant Professors. He also acknowledged the logistical challenges associated with scheduling numerous interviews for five positions, and reported their search process took about 32 weeks in total (Fall 2022-
Spring 2023). “Those applicants who were selected for interviews were invited to the campus for in-person interviews. We had a total of 46 applicants, of whom 17 were invited for an in-person interview. Ten accepted this invitation and were offered a job. Five accepted and were hired.” Demand for PhDs in the health sciences is growing even as epidemiology as a field continues the process of regaining its footing after the COVID-19 emergency status. As state and local health departments have struggled considerably with funding and staff retention (and even more so in the aftermath of the pandemic), one idea that has circulated over the past few decades is the privatization of public health. A new facet of privatizing public health occurred during the pandemic with tech giants Google and Apple developing exposure notification software. The city of Detroit offers a large-scale and sobering case study of a city buckling under financial stress that then moved to outsource public health services. When public health services later returned to government oversight, they were faced with the daunting task of rebuilding after the fallout. This does not have to be the case with privatization, but there are a host of accompanying legal and ethical considerations that require serious attention. The subfield of digital epidemiology is developing quickly, and it will be interesting to see how data privacy solutions and decentralized data processing may enable further growth while attempting to balance privacy protections. We will continue to keep a pulse on the growing and evolving epidemiology job market. If you are currently searching, we hope you’ll visit this month’s job postings to see if there is a fit for you. We also invite you to complete our job survey if you have not already. ■
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