Salary
Average Salary: $73,000
Expected Lifetime Earnings: $3,047,604
It's just like your Aunt Mildred used to say, "You've got to spend money to make money, kid. Now make me a sandwich. And cut off the crusts this time." If you want to work as an epidemiologist, you're going to spend a pretty long time in school; a post-graduate degree in epidemiology is practically required to land even the most entry level job in the field. Of course, more school means more loans, and a slightly delayed start at attacking the job market.
That being said, if you make the right decisions, you're going to bounce back faster than someone with a misdiagnosed case of Swine Flu (it's just a small cold, man, jeez). With a low-end estimate of $40,000 a year and average annual take of $73,000, you'll be out of debt and back in the black buying useless personal electronics before you know it. Do well, and you might even eventually score a salary pushing $115,000 (source).
That's pretty sweet, all things considered. You can make the deal even sweeter by living somewhere reasonably priced. Unlike high-end techies who basically need to hit the crazy-expensive west coast (where they're paying an arm and a leg for a month's rent) you can work pretty much anywhere. And $70,000 stretches a whole lot farther in Pretty Much Anywhere than it does in New York City or San Francisco.