Dr. Nancy Snyderman Is Leaving NBC

Dr. Nancy Snyderman is leaving her job as chief medical editor for NBC News to teach at a medical school, she announced Thursday.

"I stepped out of the OR a few years ago, and it is now time for me to return to my roots," she said in a statement Thursday announcing her departure from the network after nine years.

Snyderman said her decision was prompted in part by the fallout over her failure to observe a quarantine when she returned from covering the Ebola epidemic in Liberia last fall.

As Snyderman put it, becoming part of the story contributed to her decision to return to academic medicine. She will be taking up a faculty position at what she called a major U.S. medical school.

NBC called Snyderman a "valuable voice both on air and in our newsroom" in a statement and wished her the best.

"Throughout her career with NBC News, Dr. Nancy Snyderman has provided her expertise on countless health and medical topics that are vitally important to our audience," the network said.

Snyderman said she was proud of the work she had done at NBC and relished the chance to have done it. Her last appearance on the air was a February appearance on "Nightly News" to report on peanut allergies.

"Very few people get the chance to combine two professions, and I have appreciated the chance to inform the public about medical updates and the plight of so many in other countries," she said. "Every moment has been an honor."

Six months ago, Snyderman had been asked to observe a voluntary 21-day quarantine in her New Jersey home after returning from Liberia, where she briefly worked with Ashoka Mukpo, a cameraman who caught the virus and recovered after coming back to the U.S. for treatment. But she was seen getting takeout food near her home, prompting state authorities to make her quarantine mandatory. 

She returned to the air on Dec. 3 and apologized for her actions in an interview with Matt Lauer, saying she did not appreciate how frightened Americans were of the disease.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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