COVID-19 has highlighted the vital importance of infection prevention and epidemiology in protecting our nation’s health. Justin Crowe, senior vice president of Community Partnerships at Providence, spoke with Frankie Lyons, EdD and Evan Sylvester on the education programs that are preparing students to enter the workforce in these fields.
Sylvester reflects on how his role as a regional director of infection prevention at Swedish Medical Center has changed since COVID-19 – the influx of inquiries, changing policies, adapting to new weekly findings, laws, and regulations. The challenges of the pandemic pushed his role to keep caregivers and community members safe as the world navigates the disease. He notes that the demand and need for infection prevention specialists (IPSs) and epidemiologist have increased and the desire to go into this field has gone up since.
Frankie, as a division chair of health programs at University of Providence, encourages those who are interested in this career path to pursue it. The program at UP is an online, synchronous program developed for the working professional who wishes in transitioning into these roles. Both Sylvester and Frankie only see the educational and career opportunities in these fields expanding and being more accessible as we navigate the pandemic.
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