What does an epidemiologist do?

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 ...  more