Studying with the best of the best

  • Published
  • By Capt. Brittany Martin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Maj. Thomas Doker, 82nd Medical Group Public Health, was selected for a two-year fellowship with the Center for Disease Control's Epidemic Intelligence Service, Oct. 28, a program focused on epidemiology - the study of health statistics and surveillance in a population.

The fellowship will give Major Doker the opportunity to expand his skill set as a public health professional by putting him on the front lines of outbreak detection and analysis across the globe.

"If something breaks in the world within these two years, I have a very good chance of responding and investigating," Major Doker said. "In EIS, we're on the forefront."

Major Doker explained that the EIS is sent to handle global outbreaks and epidemics, including those that gained the attention of the world: SARS, West Nile Virus, H1N1 and anthrax.

The skill set that Major Doker gains during his internship will equip him for a possible follow-on assignment with the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, where he would work to maximize Air Force operational capabilities through public health analysis and consultation, or with the National Center for Medical Intelligence, where he would conduct global surveillance of potential outbreaks.

"This is how we become a specialist in our field," Major Doker said. "I want to become a specialist in my field. This puts me with the best of the best."

Major Doker explained that his ability to develop needed skills at Sheppard is limited due to the routine nature of most outbreaks, caused in part by Public Health's dedication to prevention and detection.

Sheppard's Public Health Clinic works to ensure readiness through administering vaccinations, monitoring and analyzing health symptom trends, testing and enforcing occupational medical standards and surveying over 100 base facilities for sanitation standards. Public Health will soon take over all Physical Health Assessments from the Family Health Clinic as well.

Major Doker's broad experience background has served him well as a public health professional. He joked that he learned not every person responds to a bug the same during his time on a submarine as an enlisted Nuclear Machinist Specialist. Following his time in the Navy, Major Doker started a private veterinarian practice in Georgia; he said being a veterinarian provided him a strong base since 60 percent of all diseases are zoonotic, or come from animals.

Major Doker said his interest in epidemiology spiked during his previous assignment at Lackland Air Force Base, where he assisted with the investigation when the Andeno-14 virus spread on the base.

Now that he has been selected for the program, Major Doker will undergo a final round of interviews in April to determine where he will spend his two-year internship beginning in July 2012.