Making the Most of Your Public Service Opportunity

As a continuation of his last two articles, Robert Merritt talks about how to make the most of your career in public services.  To read his previous article “The Many Roads to Federal Service at CDC” click here and to read his article “An Accidental Career in Public Health” click here! This article was originally published in April 2022. 

Written by: Robert Merritt

One of my responsibilities as a senior scientist and manager at CDC is to foster the development of young professionals. I take this very seriously and encourage all my peers to do the same. I’d like to offer some thoughts and advice to those of you that might be considering a career in public service. Although these are drawn from my work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they would also apply to work at a variety of other public federal, state, or local agencies (and even many non-profit organizations).

First and foremost, remember: “It’s not about you.”

Public service is focused on others. Currently, the public sector is, without a doubt, a very challenging place to work. Intense scrutiny, vocal criticism, unpredictable resources, and volatile politics will test your mettle, sheer will, and selfless service every day. It is work that aims to support the general welfare and needs of all citizens. This career choice is not about money or fame, but about understanding where we are as a society and how to make it better in some meaningful way. It has been said that public servants have some core qualities (or attributes) that enable them to successfully navigate and contribute to public service. These, in my opinion, are willingness to learn, desire to help others, and an ability to engage people.

Will to Learn

The fact that most of us have (or will soon have) a graduate degree does not negate the need for lifelong learning. Common sense dictates that continuous quality learning is important to every endeavor – especially professional development and success. Therefore, eagerness and craving for new information are essential. To make a positive difference, you should seek to constantly refresh your understanding and learn to adapt to change. My experience is that knowledge and the half-life of knowledge (the length of time that knowledge stays active and accurate) diminish over time.

I strongly urge each new member of my team to seek as many opportunities to learn as they can. What does this mean? Don’t just sit idle and inwardly reflect on your newly acquired book knowledge! Apply your knowledge, skills, and abilities by actively engaging and putting them to practical use! Get to know your colleagues and their expertise through informational meetings. Learn about emerging and new priorities by attending seminars and grand rounds. Join a journal club or community of practice (COP) on a topic of interest. Register for some of the hundreds of training courses sponsored by the agency.

To be successful, you need to be adept at lifelong learning and understand that what you learn now may not be the same in the future – so you need to keep ahead of the curve. Make yourself as informed, well-rounded, and observant of the world as possible.

Make a Difference

The public sector exists to bring services to people, so those working as public servants should have a strong desire to work on behalf of others. As advocates for positive change, leaders in public service know that their positions come with a profound sense of duty. Every public servant has an important role to play, whether they serve as executives, administrators, project officers, program officials, medical officers, epidemiologists, health scientists, or statisticians.

Therefore, the best route to accountability is through public sector professionals who really dedicate themselves to making a difference. We need to invest in the people of our civil service system by developing their skills and strengthening their standards, so they understand the real importance of good governance and the critical role of accountability. The key to future, continued good governance and accountability lies in the way in which we recruit, train, develop, manage, and lead our future public servants. In the end, we are accountable to the citizens we serve.

Engage Others

Public service is not a solo exercise. It’s a team sport. If you want to make a difference in the public sector, you must be ready to include and engage others as part of your work. Think beyond your own organizational perspective and look at things from the viewpoint of our citizens, including (but not limited to) taxpayers, legislators, grantees (city, county, state, tribal, territorial health departments), voluntary and non-government organizations, other Federal agencies, and global partners.

I realized early in my career that the more connections one makes, the more opportunities present themselves. Public service (especially at CDC) is an area in which employees are encouraged to continuously develop professionally. Therefore, creating a wide-reaching professional network opens many doors, simply by establishing relationships with others.

At my agency, I advise participating in meetings scheduled by your immediate group of colleagues (supervisor, team leader, and branch chief), Division, Center, or Agency; employee organizations and associations (there are over 30); workgroups (there are 12); and/or other advisory groups, boards, committees, and councils (there are over 10). Get involved and put yourself out there!

Ultimately, it is entirely what you make of it: if you do not make the effort to develop professionally, your experience will not be as beneficial as it could be. With the right experience and research, you can change your life–and help others at the same time!

Robert Merritt is a graduate of Washington and Lee University, Emory University, and The University of the South (Sewanee) where he received academic training in sociology & anthropology, medical sociology, public health, and research methods & statistics.  His research career has spanned over 30 years with positions at the Smithsonian Institution (SI), Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  He is currently working as a health scientist in the Division for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention (DHDSP) at CDC. 

Featured Image by Mukuko Studio on Unsplash

7 Movies and TV shows Epidemiologists Should Watch

Written by: Nafis Khan and Veronika Laird

This post was originally published on January 30, 2022.

If you’re like me, when winter hits you know the best place to be is inside. It gets dark earlier, everything is kind of dreary, plus all you want to do is take a nap. Some of my go to remedies for wintertime blues are tasty soup recipes, reading books (Re: 8 Books Every Epidemiologist Should Read), and watching TV. The cool thing about TV shows and movies is there are so many of them, and with the pandemic (and the emergence of omicron) there is so much time to find new ones. Now personally, I would rather catch up on the latest Netflix series than watch another zoom lecture. I may feel bad in the moment but there are tons of great shows and movies centered around public health to help me rationalize that decision. While some may be a bit more educational than others, I always like to tell myself that these programs depict the real world application of what I would be learning about anyways (Right??). Here are some cool shows and movies that I have stumbled across:

Andromeda Strain

• After a U.S. military satellite lands in a rural town in Arizona, a deadly contagion kills everyone except two survivors. It soon begins spreading across the country as the military begins to quarantine the area while a small, secured team of highly specialized scientists are assembled. Their task is to find a cure and intervention for the pathogen named “Andromeda”. This initially was a book written by Michael Crichton, who is also the author of Jurassic Park, and became adapted into a limited TV series that was nominated for 7 Primetime Emmys.

 Contagion

1. • A classic movie that got a lot of attention when the pandemic first began. It centers on a woman returning home from a business trip in Hong Kong only to pass away two days later back home in Minnesota. Shortly after, many others start to show the same symptoms and it quickly becomes a pandemic. While this film highlights the roles of epidemiologists, including EIS officers, virologists, and other scientists, it also considers the role of the media and misinformation. This movie is believed to be one of the more accurate infectious disease movies available to viewers.

Rise of Planet of the Apes

• • While some may not consider this a movie that highlights infectious diseases, it focuses on the animal-human interface and the importance of that relationship. A business has been testing their potential Alzheimer’s cure on various primates in their lab. After developing a gaseous version of a drug that is supposed to help with Alzheimer’s disease, a member of the company becomes sick and sneezes blood onto another colleague. It quickly spreads around the globe leading to a pandemic. (SPOILER ALERT) It isn’t until the second movie that we discover the biological origins of the drug and that it was derived from primates; making it a zoonotic disease.

World War Z

• • Following the outbreak of a mysterious and highly infectious disease, Brad Pitt’s Gerry Lane travels the world to identify the origins and a cure to this disease. What quickly becomes apparent to Lane is that this disease transforms those it infects into a zombie-like creature. While this movie may be a bit more intense than the traditional EIS officer deployment, it does show topics of disease transmission, public health policy, and the collaborative efforts on which epidemiologic work is built on. It also highlights the creativity sometimes needed when investigating an outbreak.

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak

• • A docu-series that may be too on the nose to watch during an actual pandemic, Pandemic covers a range of topics such as a potential influenza pandemic, vaccine research, and threats of emerging viruses. Released just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the documentary follows doctors, other healthcare professionals, and anti-vaxxers for their insight into human health and the ecological effects of society.

Erin Brockovich

1. • Based on a true story, the movie follows Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) on an investigation into the misconduct of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) that led to the carcinogenic groundwater contamination of Hinkley, CA. The movie depicts the litigious applications of an epidemiologic study. Showing how study data can be used to enact change, this movie captures the real world impact of epidemiology. Understanding the applications and effects of epidemiologic principles is important to know why a study or investigation is necessary.

Hopefully some of these movies or TV shows caught your eye. Even if you are stressing over exams, APEs, theses/capstone, etc. it is important to take some time to yourself and unwind. While these options offer insight into public health practice, there are tons of other options that are just as great. If we missed any, comment your favorite public health movies or shows.

Veronika is a Second-Year MPH student in the Global Epidemiology Program interested in researching zoonotic diseases. She studied integrative biology with a minor in chemistry and global health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in their honors program.

Nafis is a 2^nd Year Epidemiology MPH student. He is from Morrisville, PA and got his B.S in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Penn State University in 2018. When not in class you can catch Nafis hiking around Northern Georgia or finding other ways to stay active.

Featured Image by Denise Jans on Unsplash

How to Reach out to Faculty for Potential Career Opportunities

It’s that time of the year again when everyone is thinking about their goals for the semester. You hear your classmates telling you about their fantastic new research position and the work they are doing that makes it seem like they are miles ahead of you, and you may be thinking that everyone has their lives together except for you. Sometimes you just don’t know where to start, and that first step toward action is always the hardest. Here at Rollins, there are countless professors who want to help you, so here are a few quick tips on how to reach out to your professors for career advice, potential research opportunities, or more. 

Use your resources. If you don’t yet know what you might be interested in working on in the future, there are so many resources to help you. You can schedule a meeting with your faculty advisor or an ADAP to talk about your experience and career interests, and they will point you in the right direction. They are here to help you, so there is no need to be scared to reach out to them for help or advice. 

Ask around. If you have an idea of the field you might want to work in, but don’t know any faculty to reach out to, ask your friends and classmates if they have any helpful information! Our student body here has such a diverse range of interests that you may be able to use your connections with your peers to find interesting projects to work on. They may have taken a class with a professor in that field or have worked on a similar research project in the past. They can connect you with other people with similar interests.

Do your research. There are so many research centers here at Rollins or otherwise connected to Emory. Make a list of topics you are interested in, and thoroughly research all the related organizations or departments within Emory or closely connected to the University. You will find many faculty members to reach out to, and you can read about ongoing, past, or future research you might want to learn more about. 

Compose a thoughtful email. Finally, you can use all of this information to reach out to faculty you might be interested in working with. Not all professors will be actively doing research or looking for assistance, but you will always be better off reaching out to them if you are interested in their work or career. You could make an important connection or be referred to another professor doing similar work. You may be surprised with the opportunities you come across this way. Read this article for tips on how to compose your initial email!