2021-2022 Allergy-Immunology Fellowship Application Cycle

[Deecee2DO]

If you are pretty set on A/I, you should rank programs with in-house A/I programs at the top of your list. Your best chance of matching into an A/I program is with home field advantage. If you are a strong and well-liked resident who has shown interest in A/I, rotate through your home A/I program, and get involved in some degree of research with A/I faculty...then it is highly likely you will be able to stay at your home program. I say that assuming your application thus far is relatively competitive based on some of the IM programs you're interviewing at.

I would also recommend you consider ranking the programs with larger in-house A/I programs, ie 2 or more fellows per year, at the top. This makes it even more likely that you would get a spot. Programs can get weird with "who they want" to fill the spot if there's only one spot. I can think of at least two instances of this that I know of. Both of these involved a competitive in-house applicant getting screwed out of a spot because the program wanted a peds person instead of an IM person (or vice versa).

Thank you!

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[lolzthrowa]

Late but does anyone know the benefit of applying to the Chrysalis vs SPARK award without prior A/I research? I go to a big academic IM program that somehow does not have a A/I fellowship so was hoping the programs would get me better connected to research but looking at the past recipients a lot of them have home A/I programs...

 

[hotsaws]

Late but does anyone know the benefit of applying to the Chrysalis vs SPARK award without prior A/I research? I go to a big academic IM program that somehow does not have a A/I fellowship so was hoping the programs would get me better connected to research but looking at the past recipients a lot of them have home A/I programs...

Not sure exactly what you're asking.

You do not need prior A/I research to apply to Chrysalis or SPARK. I don't think doing those programs is going to get you connected with a research. The idea of these programs is to get you some exposure to the field of A/I and the respective conferences. You will meet other residents interested in A/I. You will also be introduced, and usually paired up, with one or more fellows. There are usually faculty and PDs that participate as well. I'm not sure how this would connect you to research unless you happened to connect with a neighboring institution near you that does have a program (eg You are at university of Minnesota and connect with someone at Mayo or something like that). However, you don't need one of these programs to do this. You can just reach out to faculty at neighboring institutions. Also, even if your institution doesn't have an a/I fellowship, they must have some a/I faculty, yeah? You can always try and work with them to publish some cases or something.

I'm not sure of the overall benefit to an applicant when it comes to attending those programs. I didn't. Certainly don't think it hurts if you don't. If you do, it shows interest, but I doubt it's moving anyone up the pile. If you can use it to network and meet some people, that can help, but not sure how well that works. My experience is they make applicants and fellows wake up super early in the morning to attend some meet and greet breakfast. People small talk at the table and then forget the conversation. If you left a really good impression on a fellow or faculty member, it could get you bumped up the rank list I suppose.

 

[ZatAnteater]

Does anyone have any thoughts on non-allergy related research? I presented a couple of abstracts and one non-allergy/immunology related paper. I have one allergy paper and case reports pending publication, but I don't think it will be officially published when I'm applying. Does the non-related research help in any way? Thanks in advance!

 

[hotsaws]

Yeah, I think that will be helpful. They just want to see that you can produce something. If you have a paper published, especially one that you first authored, that will be impressive. If you combine that with some allergy stuff that's pending, I think you've done more than enough to sort of check that box. Honestly, you can probably simplify applicants into 3 categories: those who have done basically no research, those who have legit first authored full manuscripts (perhaps even basic science) in respectable journals, and everybody in-between. Most applicants are in that in-between zone...and that's fine.

Frankly, many people decide they want to do allergy later in the training process. It's a small field and its not real sexy to aspiring physicians. Some people know or are related to an allergist and know that its a sweet gig, but many don't find it until later (like when you realize that you just want to be happy and have a nice life). Because of that, there's a lot of strong residents/applicants that may not dive into A/I until pgy-2. PDs recognize this.

 

[Dr.Jan.Itor]

Late but does anyone know the benefit of applying to the Chrysalis vs SPARK award without prior A/I research? I go to a big academic IM program that somehow does not have a A/I fellowship so was hoping the programs would get me better connected to research but looking at the past recipients a lot of them have home A/I programs...

I will put my 2 bit in to add onto what /u/hotsaws said. I matched successfully this year after not matching last year.

I was a SPARK and Chrysalis recipient in 2020 + 2021. A major reason why I matched this year is because the SPARK program paired me with a program director mentor in my desired fellowship location. I only got an interview at their program the first year I applied for A/I BECAUSE they knew me personally from the SPARK connection. The PD told me that I would've definitely been filtered out in any normal situation because I was a US IMG.

I reached out to the them after not matching and they were surprised that I didn't match at all as they had ranked me very highly (they obviously got their top candidates who were above me). The PD actually helped me join them as a research assistant. I did that during my gap year (in addition to moonlighting) and ended up matching with them the next year because they worked directly with me and saw what kind of fellow I could be.

I will say that I was very very very lucky and not all situations will compare to mine, but the SPARK program is probably the main reason why I ended up matching. More than my candidacy, it speaks more about my PD being a wholesome person and looking out for me after finding out I didn't match. They really did me a solid and because of their kindness, I'm going to be an allergist.

Participating in SPARK and Chrysalis will not hurt. I did not have any A/I research prior to applying to SPARK, only a small poster presentation on reading labels for food allergy. You should def go for it. PDs told me it boosted my CV for interviews and shows dedication to the field.

 

[Dr.Jan.Itor]

Not sure exactly what you're asking.

You do not need prior A/I research to apply to Chrysalis or SPARK. I don't think doing those programs is going to get you connected with a research. The idea of these programs is to get you some exposure to the field of A/I and the respective conferences. You will meet other residents interested in A/I. You will also be introduced, and usually paired up, with one or more fellows. There are usually faculty and PDs that participate as well. I'm not sure how this would connect you to research unless you happened to connect with a neighboring institution near you that does have a program (eg You are at university of Minnesota and connect with someone at Mayo or something like that). However, you don't need one of these programs to do this. You can just reach out to faculty at neighboring institutions. Also, even if your institution doesn't have an a/I fellowship, they must have some a/I faculty, yeah? You can always try and work with them to publish some cases or something.

I'm not sure of the overall benefit to an applicant when it comes to attending those programs. I didn't. Certainly don't think it hurts if you don't. If you do, it shows interest, but I doubt it's moving anyone up the pile. If you can use it to network and meet some people, that can help, but not sure how well that works. My experience is they make applicants and fellows wake up super early in the morning to attend some meet and greet breakfast. People small talk at the table and then forget the conversation. If you left a really good impression on a fellow or faculty member, it could get you bumped up the rank list I suppose.

My PD said things like Chief Resident, SPARK and Chrysalis is def something factored into an interview invite. It's obviously dependent on each PD, but in my case it def helped. I'm from the school of thought that dedication to the field is a must in such a small field. IMO it shows drive and forethought that you are committed to A/I. I have a clear bias though lol.

 

[Hera A]

Don't know if anyone's still on here, but what kind of interview questions should we be expecting? Just trying to prepare and wanted to know about your experiences

 

[Deecee2DO]

Yeah, I think that will be helpful. They just want to see that you can produce something. If you have a paper published, especially one that you first authored, that will be impressive. If you combine that with some allergy stuff that's pending, I think you've done more than enough to sort of check that box. Honestly, you can probably simplify applicants into 3 categories: those who have done basically no research, those who have legit first authored full manuscripts (perhaps even basic science) in respectable journals, and everybody in-between. Most applicants are in that in-between zone...and that's fine.

Frankly, many people decide they want to do allergy later in the training process. It's a small field and its not real sexy to aspiring physicians. Some people know or are related to an allergist and know that its a sweet gig, but many don't find it until later (like when you realize that you just want to be happy and have a nice life). Because of that, there's a lot of strong residents/applicants that may not dive into A/I until pgy-2. PDs recognize this.

Im suprised its not hotter than it is. Pvt practice community allergy pays super well (400K-500K+) on partner tracks 2 years out of fellowship. That is an insanely good gig especially working the hrs allergists work. If you didnt have to go through IM or Peds it essentially would be Derm level lifestyle/pay and i think why its less popular. It isnt uncommon to be offered that kind of salary in PP either so these arent outliers by any means. I have been interested in Allergy for a while and thats what ive been hearing from fellows and new grads. Of course if you do academics ur making far less but thats with any specialty

 

[Lucky1993]

Im suprised its not hotter than it is. Pvt practice community allergy pays super well (400K-500K+) on partner tracks 2 years out of fellowship. That is an insanely good gig especially working the hrs allergists work. If you didnt have to go through IM or Peds it essentially would be Derm level lifestyle/pay and i think why its less popular. It isnt uncommon to be offered that kind of salary in PP either so these arent outliers by any means. I have been interested in Allergy for a while and thats what ive been hearing from fellows and new grads. Of course if you do academics ur making far less but thats with any specialty

As someone who just applied to allergy this year, that’s music to my ears! Love the field and really hoping to be a part of it soon!