The epidemiology workforce in state and local health departments - United States, 2010.

During 2001-2009, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) conducted four epidemiology capacity assessments (ECAs) in state and territorial public health departments in the United States. In October 2010, CSTE sent a follow-up, Internet-based questionnaire to the state epidemiologist in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The purpose was to enumerate the state-level epidemiology workforce and determine whether it had varied since 2009 because of changes in state and federal funding and, for the first time, to estimate concurrently the number of epidemiologists working in local health departments using the same definition for local health department epidemiologist as for state-level epidemiologist. A total of 3,754 epidemiologists working in state and local health departments were reported: 2,476 (66%) at the state level and 1,278 (34%) at the local level, the latter number consistent with results of several recent surveys. The state-level epidemiology workforce increased 12.9% during the 18 months since the previous assessment. Although 63% of states reported fewer state-funded positions, only 24% reported fewer federally funded positions. Federal stimulus funding might have helped preserve and enhance the state-level epidemiology workforce. Future epidemiology workforce assessments should include both the state and local epidemiology workforce, possibly through CSTE coordination with the National Association of County and City Health Officials and other agencies.