Epidemic Intelligence Service Alumni in Public Health Leadership Roles

Marvin So; Andrea Winquist; Shelby Fisher; Danice Eaton; Dianna Carroll; Patricia Simone; Eric Pevzner; Wences Arvelo

doi:10.3390/ijerph19116662

Epidemic Intelligence Service Alumni in Public Health Leadership Roles

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 30;19(11):6662. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19116662.

Authors

Marvin So¹, Andrea Winquist², Shelby Fisher³, Danice Eaton^{2

4}, Dianna Carroll^{2

4}, Patricia Simone², Eric Pevzner^{2

4}, Wences Arvelo²

Affiliations

¹ Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA.
² Epidemiology Workforce Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
³ Williams College, Williamstown, MA 01267, USA.
⁴ Commissioned Corps, U.S. Public Health Service, Rockville, MD 20852, USA.

Abstract

Since 1951, the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has trained physicians, nurses, scientists, veterinarians, and other allied health professionals in applied epidemiology. To understand the program's effect on graduates' leadership outcomes, we examined the EIS alumni representation in five select leadership positions. These positions were staffed by 353 individuals, of which 185 (52%) were EIS alumni. Among 12 CDC directors, four (33%) were EIS alumni. EIS alumni accounted for 29 (58%) of the 50 CDC center directors, 61 (35%) of the 175 state epidemiologists, 27 (56%) of the 48 Field Epidemiology Training Program resident advisors, and 70 (90%) of the 78 Career Epidemiology Field Officers. Of the 185 EIS alumni in leadership positions, 136 (74%) were physicians, 22 (12%) were scientists, 21 (11%) were veterinarians, 6 (3%) were nurses, and 94 (51%) were assigned to a state or local health department. Among the 61 EIS alumni who served as state epidemiologists, 40 (66%) of them were assigned to a state or local health department during EIS. Our evaluation suggests that epidemiology training programs can serve as a vital resource for the public health workforce, particularly given the capacity strains brought to light by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Epidemic Intelligence Service; applied epidemiology; leadership; workforce.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
Humans
Intelligence
Leadership
Pandemics
Public Health* / education

Grants and funding

This publication was supported in part by an appointment to the Research Participation Program at the CDC by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and CDC (for Marvin So’s contributions).