Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
As a disease investigator at CDC I have to draw upon a lot
of different skills because I need to connect the dots
from numerous sources and types of information in order
to protect the public's health.
My experience as a doctor is one of the skills
that I bring to my job.
In addition to leading a division
at CDC I still see patients
as an infectious disease consultant.
In many ways, the patients that I see
in the hospital connect my work in public health.
For example, not long ago, I was asked to see a patient
in the intensive care unit.
He had a severe illness with a quick onset,
he was hospitalized just the night before
but when I saw him he was nearly comatose.
I connected with this patient
because he was just 52 years old, had two young children,
but also had severe diabetes.
I knew that he had a severe infection in his blood
and possibly in his brain.
Even before the laboratory called me that afternoon
to describe what they were seeing in his cultures,
I suspected that he had a rare but severe form
of foodborne illness caused by listeria.
Despite being treated with the best antibiotics,
he died the next day.
I think about patients like him when I work at CDC
as an epidemiologist tracking and investigating outbreaks.