scientist

contact tracer

environmental specialist

records specialist

examiner

Florida Department of Health

Good Benefits. Poor Pay Stay away from  OPS positions. 

Pros: opportunity  to learn a lot about community outreach and mitigation of  disease. Help your community. Make good community contacts/partnerships. Try to work for the right department (shout out to Family Services and Immunizations), some supervisors look out for you and listen.  If you manage to see past the poor pay, job instability,  high turnover rate for new employees, rotting rats in the break rooms, shady reporting, employee retention rates for “longtimers” is high. 

Cons: run away if you’re OPS —review your contract carefully. 

Clinical career service  very underpaid and undervalued and at high risk with sub par PPE. Questionable standard for public health education and infection protocol not following  CDC guidelines, you will be disappointed. 

Contract  tracer bosses only care about the #s. Not a sales position. Public health. But your 20 minute discussion answering resident questions could be one more interview! Dinged. Other than #s, most no  cares about educating public and answering questions. Very demoralizing. 

OPS contact tracers (but not Career service employees whom perform the same tasks)  are required to work in office, some in open rooms < 6 ft from another, masks not enforced. have to eat at their desks (no break room), daily  exposed to sick coworkers/pts  who they don’t know vax status — and may never find out exposed to Covid. 

no screening, required masks or social distancing AT THE HEALTH DEPT.  HCW don’t have proper PPE. 

No longer here, heard that still continues from friends- 8/2021 Ops non clinical staff in office put at risk for job which can do remotely. No explanation as to why can’t be done at home. No response from leadership to point of losing half Epi DEPT. people didn’t feel safe at work, lost more than 10 tracers who’ve worked  ops Covid for more then 1 yr @ average 50-55 hr workweeks last month due to unnecessary, unsafe Environment. 

OPS schedule— work 7 days any day of the week including holidays. No holiday pay. 

Micromanagement to the extreme. Workers trusted patient info but have to cc supervisors on external emails sent to community contacts. 
Work timesheets calculated by the minute to tasks. 

Management changes hands frequently. 

OPS contracted employees may be let go at “any time the services are no longer needed” —even before their contact date expires despite being guaranteed a certain # of hrs. 



A normal day at work in extremely busy from the moment I walk through the doors until I leave.  I often stay over and often get a 30 minute lunch or no lunch.  In which I am allowed to flex out my time on a day that is not so crazy.  Since I have been working for the Florida Department of Health I have gained people skills.  I have learned to work with many different personalities and not clash.  I have learned the great deal of seriousness with diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer and etc..  I have learned that the best way to get along with your co-workers and keep a smooth flow of patients is to just do your job.  If I stay in my lane and complete my task and help as needed things go so good at work.  Where I work at it is a growing process.  I have been through several supervisors and all will be glad to say that I am a dedicated, smart hard working, willing to do anything that's legal, excellent worker.  I think the hardest part of my job is to tell another human being that they Have HIV especially if that person is around my age or younger.  While I have never cried or showed any emotions while giving results when I walk away a tear or two has rolled down my face every time.  To tell somebody that they have this disease that they can not get rid of and it can eventually lead them to death before its time is very hard and takes a lot of patience, time and energy.  I have two highlights in my job.  One is to see these kids grow up from birth to now is a amazing feeling.  Just knowing that you had something to do with their well being is awesome.  I also like to have lunch.  Even though I do not always get to take one I will find some way to eat.  Even if its for 10-15 minutes.  Just knowing that I go home to wake up every day to do it all over again is the greatest highlight of my day.

A typical day at work is really study for certification and you get occasional calls just troubleshooting users computer and receiving emails of new responsibilities we have. What i learned at work was really everything about Windows operating system. When I was hired, I had no training, you just had to jump in there and work. That was for me and now I have co workers asking me how to do stuff all of the time so I came a long way. Managing your time is needed, we may get about 25 calls each, and the rest of your time should be spent studying but managers dont micro managed. Since i was attending school and working, I was always encourage to learn something new, so I wouldn't work in my position for long. The workplace culture you will love because everyone is personable and always planning pot luck and events for teams. You have a few bad seeds but if stay to what you want to do, then they can be ignore and you will be cordial. The hardest part of the job is when statewide issues happen, because you're trying to document tickets as well as take calls and the phone refresh rate is 4 seconds, and you just hope someone dont call out which for OPS, you only get paid what you work so call out at your own risk. The most enjoyable part would just be the area, my manager is a people person, there are restaurants nearby. My university is 10 minutes away and the gym is 7 mins away which is perfect. This could be good or bad depending on how you take it: if you ask someone a question about a topic they are an expert at, be prepared to listen for a good 30 minutes. I took advantage of it, and learned very much about Window Server 2012.

Duties: initiate a thorough review of medical records and other medical evidence to establish physically and mentally disabling impairments 
- analyze and interpret medical records and radiological evidence ex. Included: Lab and Operational Reports, ECHO’s, Dopplers, EKG’s, Xray’s, MRI’s, PFT’s, etc.
- authorizing the purchase of the appropriate medical exams and testing with Physicians and medical specialists according to the claimant’s impairments and medical evidence needed to efficiently adjudicate claim   
- researching and identifying sources of medical and non-medical information to secure information necessary for an objective evaluation of an individual’s claim of disability and term of benefit eligibility
- conduct fact- finding interviews with professional medical/vocational sources for the purpose of soliciting documentation required for an evidentiary sufficient decisions in alignment with Social Security Administration rules and procedures
- interview claimants to secure vocational and occupational history, clarify medical treatment and/or allegations, secure information regarding activities of daily living, for the purpose of determining the level of severity of a wide variety of medical and psychological impairments 
- consider residual functional capacity resulting from physical and mental impairments for work and the vocational potential of applicants 
- applies knowledge of medicine terminology and conditions, federal law, administrative regulations as well as disability policies to troubleshoot and adjudicate complex claims

The work environment was disorganized and high-pressure, gaslighting, largely due to ineffective management and leadership practices.  The DON and Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) frequently exhibited passive-aggressive communication and behaviors that undermined staff confidence, making it difficult to feel supported or trusted. This contributed to confusion, tension, and an uncomfortable workplace atmosphere.  Additionally, the supervisor of clerks often provided misleading information, spread gossip, and created unnecessary conflict, which added to the hostility. Appointments were scheduled to end at 3:30 PM but were routinely extended to 4:00–4:15 PM. They change things in terms of their own convenience and make you do things that are not even on your job description. Many patients arrived late, often seeking free vaccines, yet nurses were still expected to accommodate them, increasing workload and stress.  Don’t try because they will not hear you. Clients verbally abusive they get away with things. Ongoing management issues, extended schedules, and inconsistent communication made the role very demanding and challenging. Overall, the work environment was stressful, poorly managed, and unsupportive. They change work description to their own convenience and criteria cutting of two person from one person adding workload. You’re not going to accomplish professional growth in this place better to leave.

You would think the health department would care about its employees just like they care about the community…NOPE! You are over worked and underpaid. You’re  expected  to meet impossible criteria (put in place by Tallahassee) with an under staffed team and a never ending work load. No matter how hard you work it goes unnoticed. Also common sense in HR departments isn’t so common. The last person in HR that had common sense retired this year. Communication between departments needs to better.
This is the hardest job at the Health department. We put our lives on the line everyday but it goes unnoticed. Being pulled to different departments to help do the dirty work, being chosen randomly to work 12 hour shifts to work the pods for months at a time, and not being able to say no with out repercussions was a deal breaker. I really hope this company can see how great their staff is and compensate them with money not health department T-shirts. 
 I worked there for many years. The Health Department extremely inclusive with their staff, my coworkers definitely worked as a team, holidays/ weekends off and helping the community is what kept me going for so many years. Also the health benefits is great, because you’re going to need it. I gained many skills by cross training and helping out with different departments. So that was a plus for my resume. Because of that I found a job that is appreciative of my talent and is willing to pay way more. 

This position is great if you are young, live at home with your parents still and want good experience to put on a resume. The work is a lot but it is simple, the hours are consistent and the benefits are good. If you are unemployed and want a consistent job to get back on your feet, work here for 3 months and leave like most other people.

The pay is terrible. For the amount of work you are expected to complete, the compensation compared to other departments or even just other Boards in the Department of Health is pitiful. this leads to people leaving this board after a few months, basically using this board to get their foot in the door. This means you will be permanently understaffed, as since I started in Feb 2021 we have been understaffed ever since. Any internal promotion is basically a manager/supervisor role, which is a salary position that has major responsibilities for the same pay as a Regulatory Specialist II for another department. You will also run into countless people who are bad at their job, they don't work as hard as everyone else, yet boards will never fire someone if they don't make major errors. For most people in most situations, this job is not worth it. Too many issues, and the pay is honestly a joke. 

A typical day at work for me is locating an infected client or potentially infected sex partner of infected client and getting them into them Rx for the infection. If HIV then making sure that client is in services and on meds at the same getting the sex partners or any other at risk person around the client tested. The biggest things I've learned in my experience working in Public Health that no matter how frustrating  a day or client can be the #1 one is goal is still stopping the spread of infections. So whatever it takes the job still has to be done. My experience with my co-workers and management has always been pleasant. Ive always been the team player that once my task is done im helping my team out to the best I can. The hardest part of my job is dealing with the different emotions of our client. Some clients will be helpful and cooperate while others don't cooperate and let their emotions get the best of the situation. The most enjoyable part is when I close a case with the following; the client being treated and depending on the infection the client being treated and their sex partners tested and treated as well. Then I feel I've done my part in stopping the spread on infections and diseases.

Working for DOH is mildly depressing, not because of what you see but because of how much you cannot do. First of all the pay is abysmal for the education level they demand. The benefits are good but living in Miami you cannot survive on a DOH salary here unless you're administration, at least not on your own.
 Also, there are persistent and very simple problems in my building that make patient and client lives needlessly difficult and could be fixed with a few mouse clicks. Yet nobody has the will to do anything about it and what's maddening is you can't do it yourself. Their "suggestion box" is useless. It's a real "stay in your lane" mentality. I don't get the sense that anyone here feels like they're doing any good at all anymore. But with every budget stretching every program to a skeleton crew it's not surprising. Most of the new talent is leaving as soon as they arrive.
Oh! And if anyone ever told you government work is easy and laid back know now that is not the case. I've worked in the private sector and I've never worked as hard as I do here in DOH. Because the programs are so understaffed, you'll be doing the work of multiple people.

 As the sexual violence prevention coordinator a typical day at work is contacting other organizations and going in teaching adults and students about sexual violence.  I work closely with other organization and community centers setting up event to educate the community on sexual violence. I also teach STD classes and counsel for HIV/AIDS.  I have learn how to be a better leader and also learn how to managed grants and contracts, within my job. The management team is very strong companionate in the work that is being done by every work on staff. My co-workers are very supportive and work as a team. My job is always a challenge and it helps me to be more observant and very proactive. I enjoy everything about my job. Learning more about how people like to learn and different ways you can educate people about sexual violence. Helping people to understand what sexual violence is and how it could lead to other violence that can harm you and your love ones. I also enjoy the fact that I can set my on schedule and teach within the different counties. I enjoy helping people and helping them to understand what is right and wrong in sexual violence.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Scientist 10 salaries reported	$23.30 per hour
Contact tracer 4 salaries reported	$23.75 per hour
Environmental specialist 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour
Records specialist 8 salaries reported	$31,200 per year
Examiner 3 salaries reported	$34,696 per year

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