BS Environmental Health senior student, Caitlin Taylor, did her internship this summer 2017 with the Office of Communicable and Environmental Diseases and Emergency Preparedness (CEDEP), Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, Tennessee.  Caitlin had the opportunity to work closely with two main groups, Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net) Food and Safe Water for Community Health (SafeWATCH), which are both funded through CDC grants.  She was involved in various activities in 2 metropolitan counties (Shelby and Nashville/Davidson), which included investigating a local Memphis hotel for Legionnaires outbreak, routine restaurant inspections, observing a foodborne complaint investigation and consultation for a tattoo parlor, assisting in pool inspections, harmful algae bloom (HAB) testing in drinking water facilities, and private spring water testing.

Caitlin’s special project was to develop an online survey to gather feedback from local foodborne outbreak investigators about CDC’s National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS). The purpose of this survey was to assess knowledge gaps, identify training needs, and understand perceptions. As a part of her requirements for this project, she took CDC’s e-Learning course on Environmental Assessment Training Series (EAS) that is used for NEARS.  Caitlin had the opportunity to present the findings of the project to the CEDEP department surveillance meeting during the final week of her internship.

“Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my internship,” Caitlin shared.  “It exposed me to working at both the local and State level. It further cemented my idea of how wide the environmental health field can be. Finally, with the various field work experience I had, I can see myself working in either the local or State health department.”

Photos courtesy of Caitlin Taylor