Welcome back to Voice for Infection Prevention! Today, I’m joined by Elyse Fritschel, an Infection Prevention leader whose career path brings such a unique blend of public health, hospital epidemiology, leadership, and even a little bit of aerospace safety into the conversation.

Elyse’s journey into Infection Prevention didn’t begin in a hospital. Her background started in epidemiology and public health, including field investigation work during major infectious disease events, before she made the transition into academic medical center Infection Prevention. Over time, she has grown from staff-level roles into leadership positions across multiple complex healthcare environments, all while bringing a strong perspective on curiosity, continuous learning, and the value of diverse backgrounds in this field.

In this conversation, Elyse shares what it was like moving from public health into hospital-based Infection Prevention, how she built clinical knowledge as a non-nurse, and what she learned stepping into leadership earlier than she expected. We also talk about mentorship, APIC involvement, burnout, and why qualities like curiosity, humility, and relationship-building matter so much in this work. And along the way, her story offers a really thoughtful reminder that there’s more than one path into Infection Prevention — and more than one way to make a meaningful impact once you’re here.

If you’re interested in career growth, nontraditional pathways into the profession, and the mindset that helps people succeed over the long haul in Infection Prevention, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Let’s dive in.

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Voice for Infection Prevention is a production of Clutch Recruitment. Clutch Recruitment, founded by Jacob Hutcherson, is the leading recruiting firm exclusively committed to Infection Prevention & Control recruitment.

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