Barry’s Health Management programs nurtured her passion for public health and helped support her academic and professional success.
Erica Anderson
Dual Degree: MS, Health Services Administration and Master of Public Health
Class of 2019
As a Biological Scientist IV with the Miami-Dade branch of the Florida Department of Health, Erica Anderson focuses on hospital acquired infections in long-term acute care hospitals (LTACH) settings, and specifically multi-drug resistant organisms like Candida Auris. She is an infection control assessment and response epidemiologist for hospital acquired infections.
It’s a big responsibility, but Anderson loves the direct impact she has on each phase of protecting the public. “My job allows me to have a complete, hands-on role from start to finish,” she says.
In August 2019, Anderson earned dual master’s degrees in Public Health and Health Services Administration, but she was already well on her way to her dream career in epidemiology. She began interning with the Department of Health while still a Barry student. Her performance impressed her supervisors and prepared her to step into her current, full-time position. She says Barry’s Health Management programs nurtured her passion for public health and helped support her academic and professional success. Small class sizes fostered her relationships with her professors and mentors and allowed her opportunities to network within her field. In the future, she aims to advance her career in public health without sacrificing her direct connection with the public she serves. “My patient is my community,” Anderson says. As of now, she doesn’t want it any other way.