How to Become an Epidemiologist

1. Earn a Bachelor's Degree (4 Years)

The first step to becoming an epidemiologist is to earn a bachelor's degree in a science-intensive field, like biology, chemistry, biostatistics, or physiology.

Students should aim to maintain a high GPA (3.5+) to remain competitive for admission into graduate or medical schools.

The preparation timeline below provides an example public health curriculum:

Grade Level	Example Courses
Freshman	Public Health I Public Health II Biology I & Lab Psychology I Pre-Calculus Humanities Requirements Electives
Sophomore	Introduction to Epidemiology Issues in Global Environmental Health Behavior in Public Health International Health Care & the U.S. Environmental Justice Research Methods in Public Health Humanities Requirements Electives
Junior	Fundamentals of Environmental Health risk Assessment Climate Change and Human Health Biostatistics for Public Health Global Health Illness Medical Sociology Violence Criminology Social Stratification Humanities Requirements Electives
Senior	Biology I & Lab Outbreak Investigation Infectious Diseases in the Developed World Capstone Health Disparities in Social Context Remaining Requirements & Electives

2. Take the Graduate Requisite Exam (GRE)

With a master's degree or higher being the entry-level qualifications for most epidemiologists, students must prepare themselves for the Graduate Requisite Examination (GRE), a 3 hour and 45 minute, standardized, multiple choice exam covering analytical writing, quantitative reasoning, and verbal reasoning.

The GRE is broken down into six main sections:

Section	Section Breakdown
1 Analytical Writing Section	2 writing assignments 60 minutes Tests student's abilities to assess arguments and communicate ideas.
2 Quantitative Reasoning Sections	20 multiple-choice questions 35 minutes per section Tests student's abilities to solve mathematical problems and interpret data.
2 Verbal Reasoning Sections	20 questions per section 30 minutes per section Tests the ability to understand and analyze written material
1 Unscored Section	A duplicate of one of the above sections

3. Earn a Master of Public Health Degree (2 Years)

This is a strongly interdisciplinary field, which means that students have to possess quantitative skills, such as biostatistics and computer applications, as well as demonstrate skills which pertain to promoting health awareness, disease prevention and educating the general masses.

An ideal epidemiologist is also required to evaluate the quality of health care. To become an epidemiologist, students must be a part of an accredit program for epidemiology. A list of such programs can be found in the website of the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).