I'm under 30, but am established in my job as a data analyst and have a lot of specialized skills. I make a great salary and was hoping to have a baby in the year or so after I graduate (and daycare is massively expensive where I live, think $1500 a month if you're lucky).

I'm about halfway through my MPH in epidemiology and have a 4.0. I love my classes and the work and the reading. My dream would be to go into field epidemiology, outbreak investigation, and I have an interest in infectious & tropical disease/vector-borne disease.

But since I've started to consider the paths I could take when I graduate (either changing jobs to be an epidemiologist, try for a fellowship, or apply to PhD programs because I love what I'm learning so much), I wind up in a serious funk.

It feels like I waited too long and now if I change fields, I will have to take a substantial pay cut almost back to where I started 7 years ago (because I don't have the work experience in epi to keep my current salary). A pay cut like that means not starting a family for the foreseeable future or being able to save money and help family like we are now.

I feel like I can't ask my partner to make that sacrifice (and not sure I want to make it either) and should drop out and just continue in the job I'm in now. I enjoy my work, but it's not something I wake up passionate about every day like I do with my coursework and research interests.

Does anyone have advice?