Manual Disease Detective: The Story of an Infectious Disease Physician

They communicate crucial information quickly about health problems in a community. Their work prevents illness, gets to the root of health problems, and helps people cope in difficult situations. When disease outbreaks hit U. Like investigators at the scene of a crime, these disease detectives begin by looking for clues. When a health threat appears or a trend becomes evident, we may not know right away why or how many people are affected, but CDC has the world-class expertise and state-of- the-art equipment to find out what is making people sick or die and what to do about it.

To become a CDC disease detective, you must be a doctor or scientist; then you must complete a special 2-year training program. It is true that several CDC staff have died in the line of duty. But with the right training and equipment, our disease detectives can stay safe even while doing field work in difficult conditions.

The work of CDC disease detectives helps to slow or stop outbreaks and other health threats. It also helps people cope during health emergencies. Accurate information that arrives quickly reduces fear.

Newsletters

And that helps communities avoid protests, or other disruptive behavior. Some of our experts are epidemiologists. Epidemiology is the method of study that allows our experts to get to the root of health problems and outbreaks in a community. Epidemiologists are disease detectives. Sunshine, surf, and the occasional clinic under the shade of a palm tree—is this the image of infectious diseases?

Search form

But a common theme that all three doctors mention is the enormous global impact of infection—for many countries infectious diseases still impose the greatest burden of mortality and morbidity even though cure or prevention is often possible. Increasing population movements mean that migrant and travel health are a growing problem in the United Kingdom, and one where infection specialists have an important part to play. Historically, infection specialists have tended to focus on community acquired infections, and microbiologists more on the hospital acquired ones.

As there is, however, an ever increasing need across all specialties for more consultations on healthcare associated infections and an understanding of antimicrobial resistance patterns, many feel that this division is false. Fortunately, there is a move towards providing a common infection training stem after core medical training that can then be followed by subspecialty selection.

Paradoxically, one of the greatest attractions of the specialty is also a potential weakness, according to Vicky Johnston box 1. Outside clinical diagnosis, laboratory links have always existed between infection and immunology and pharmacology.

Experience abroad, whether clinical or academic, is recognised as beneficial, although may become increasingly difficult to accommodate in the new Modernising Medical Careers structure. But, as Anand says, this huge breadth of career options can itself be bewildering, and a structured career path is therefore not always clear.

Yet this very flexibility of training is itself stimulating as it forces the career decision onto the trainee, thinks Vicky. Experience abroad—Many opportunities for exciting and interesting work in different settings overseas. Strong academic links — Many specialists combine clinical and academic work to suit their interests.

Career structure—This is not as formalised as in other specialties, but perhaps allows for greater individualisation. Uncertainty about future employment — This will depend upon the subspecialty area selected.

Vicky Johnston says that her weeks are divided between ward work and clinics. She works in a large dedicated infection unit with between 20 and 35 inpatients shared between two teams for general infectious and tropical diseases. In addition to the usual ward work and ward rounds, there are regular referrals meetings, x ray sessions, grand rounds, case review meetings, and research meetings.

1. 72 Virgins.
2. A career in infectious diseases | The BMJ?
3. Life Patterns the Secret to Emotional Freedom.

As well as the ward patient follow-up clinics, there are a variety of subspecialty clinics—leprosy, tropical parasitology, general tropical diseases, travel medicine, and leishmaniasis. A walk-in clinic is available without general practitioner referral for patients recently returned from tropical areas.