What does an epidemiologist do?

Question

What does an epidemiologist do? What tools/equipments do they use?

Answer 1

iz zat next av kin tu epidermis?

Answer 2

An epidemiologist is a bit like a detective.

Epidemiology began as the study of epidemics.  The doctor/epidemiologist would collect data about every detail that victims of a disease had, and try to figure out what they had in common.  A famous example is the British physician Dr. Doll, who evaluated hundreds of patients with lung cancer and compared them with control patients who did not have lung cancer.  Guess what?  All the lung cancer patients smoked, while only a small percentage of those without cancer smoked.

This type of gumshoe detective work, combined with mathematical statistical models, enables us to determine lots of things, such as the relationship between cholesterol levels and heart attacks, and even the source of a lead poisoning epidemic.  Sometimes the work can be dangerous, when you are looking at a toxin or virus, you do have to be careful not to expose yourself.

Tools include computers mostly, with SAS or SPSS type statistical programs to run, and lots of spreadsheets full of data.  Tools also include people, who you must interview very carefully, and possibly examine or draw blood.

Many epidemiologists are also doctors.  However, most are those who primarily look for patterns in data and interview people.

Jobs could be with NIH, the CDC, or major medical centers.  

Answer 3

They study health and disease in the general population. They primarily use statistics to determine the best course of treatment for a particular problem, track disease outbreaks, develop preventative measures to limit spread of communicable diseases, determine the efficacy of preventative treatments, etc.