If so, you could be destined to find the next big public health threat while working with a team of other scientists.<br><br>COVID-19 shone a bright light on the importance of infection prevention to keep us safe from pandemics. Since COVID, there's been an increasing demand for those trained in microbiology and public health in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and even outside of healthcare, companies such as Netflix are hiring infection preventionists to advise them on COVID safety. Public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) also need such expertise.<br><br>Careers within clinical and public health microbiology are challenging, yet rewarding. They offer an opportunity to participate in clinical decision making by providing critical information to healthcare teams. Microbiologists also contribute to public health by providing information important for the detection and characterization of pathogens that are of public health concern.