Contact:
Kate Ruddon
404-653-0790
kruddon@cdc.gov
Medical Students Selected to Train in Applied Epidemiology at CDC
April 28, 2004, ATLANTA – Eight medical students have been selected to participate in the first-ever fellowship program for physicians-in-training at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The year-long fellowship will combine classroom instruction in epidemiology and biostatistics with hands-on field investigations of disease outbreaks and other public health threats.
Never before have medical students had the opportunity to receive this kind of in-depth, hands-on experience at CDC,” says Denise Koo, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Division of Applied Public Health Training. “They will be learning through their work on real public health problems. Not only will it prepare them for potential careers in public health, but also it will give them a solid understanding of their role in the larger public health system, even if they choose to go into clinical medicine.”
The fellowship program, called The CDC Experience, was funded by an initial $600,000 grant to the CDC Foundation from Pfizer Inc and The Pfizer Foundation. The eight students will begin their fellowship in September 2004. During their fellowship, they will participate in classroom training and special seminars that will complement their epidemiologic research and field investigations. Each student will be mentored by a CDC expert in a particular subject area and complete a culminating project on a public health priority.
The medical students selected to participate in the first class of The CDC Experience and their areas of interest include:
- Heidi Wendell Brown, Brown (University) Medical School, Providence, RI, who will investigate respiratory disease issues;
- Judd David Flesch, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, who will work on cardiovascular disease prevention;
- Christine Hung, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, Cleveland, who will analyze the relationship between asthma and the environment;
- Nitin Kapur, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, who will evaluate health disparities;
- Cassie Kuo, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, who will work on reproductive health issues;
- Christina Mikosz, Rush Medical College, Chicago, who will investigate risk factors for viral and rickettsial diseases;
- Courtney Rowland, University of Kansas Medical School, Wichita, who will assess causes of birth defects and methods for prevention; and
- Mehul Tejani, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, who will analyze risk factors and costs of sexually transmitted diseases.
“This program will begin to build a cadre of physicians with a solid understanding of public health,” says Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “We need many more programs like this one because as more physicians-in-training are exposed to public health thinking and practice, we are likely to see improved communication and collaboration between the medical and public health communities - something that is critical in this age of bioterrorism and rapidly spreading disease threats. We are grateful to Dr. Barbara DeBuono and her colleagues at Pfizer for their partnership in the creation of this important program.”