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California Epidemiologic Investigation Service Fellowship Program

Chronic Disease Control Branch

California Department of Public Health

Cal-EIS is a one or two-year program for promising but inexperienced epidemiologists to gain hands-on experience working with an epidemiologist preceptor in either local or state health departments in California. Established in 1989 in response to the California Conference of Local Health Officers' need to employ qualified epidemiologists in California's health departments, Cal-EIS provides one year of training in applied epidemiology for epidemiologists who have recently graduated from a master's degree program. Occasionally, there is the opportunity to extend the Fellowship for a second year. Cal-EIS is a unique program; very few states have a training program for Master's-level epidemiologists.  As part of the Public Health Equity and Readiness Opportunity (HERO) Initiative passed in the Budget Act 2022, California Epidemiologic Investigation Service (Cal-EIS) received new funding of $3.2M to the state general fund. This funding will be used to increase the number of Fellows trained in the Cal-EIS Fellowship Program over a three-year period. Fellows will be hired through the University of California, Davis with a salary of $55,000 per year health benefits included. Each year, staff conduct a national recruitment targeting Master of Public Health students with an interest in epidemiology, review applications, interview qualified candidates, and enroll 23 new fellows in the program. Staff also recruit placement sites and experienced mentors for each fellow. Current placement sites include:

• Local Health Departments: San Diego County, Marin County, Solano County, Monterey County, El Dorado County, San Mateo County, Riverside County, Napa County, San Mateo County, Alameda County, San Luis Obispo County, Sutter County, Long Beach City, Yuba County

 Local Health Departments                                                                                                     Allocated Funds