License to Serve — U.S. Trainees and the Ebola Epidemic

Abstract

Before medical school, Sara L., now a fourth-year resident, worked for 6 years as a microbiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While there, she focused on hemorrhagic fevers, and she went to West Africa several times to assist in outbreaks. Indeed, until recently, Sara was one of only a few hundred people in the United States who was trained to work in a biosafety level 4 "spacesuit" laboratory, which requires the same personal protective equipment (PPE) needed for working with Ebola. As the current Ebola epidemic exploded, and after careful deliberation, Sara sought and secured a position . . .