What are epidemiologists and what do they do?
Any epidemiologist will tell you that there is a lot of confusion surrounding the term “epidemiology.” The most common misconception about epidemiology is that it is the study of skin diseases. The more conventional definition of epidemiology is “the study of the distribution and determinants of disease frequency in human populations, and the application of this study to control health problems.” Simply put, epidemiologists count people with certain diseases or conditions. For example, epidemiologists count cases of disease, define the affected population, and then compute rates of disease in Maricopa County. Epidemiologists, or “disease detectives,” are an important part of the Department of Public Health. Epidemiologists are called to action under a variety of circumstances, for example, if many people become sick after attending an event. For an epidemiologist, investigating an outbreak is one of the most exciting parts of the job. Many times, the cause and source of the outbreak ar
