Allergy and Immunology- Why is it so competitive and what is the fellowship like

[jimanderson]

Hi
I wanted some info about A and I and how competitive is it and what the training is like

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[AJM]

A/I is generally considered very competitive mostly because of the few numbers of spots, you're often competing with peds applicants as well as other IM applicants for the same fellowship spots, and because it's a nice lifestyle. Most of the A/I fellows I've met have gotten into their fellowship in kind of a roundabout way, often by having close connections with the department (like having done research with them, or doing a related fellowship at the same hospital like pulmonary or rheum, etc).

The training is usually one year of clinical, and 1-2 years of research. The clinical training is mostly outpatient clinics, but the fellows will also do inpatient consults during their clinical time -- they may get called for things such as weird allergic reactions, drug desensitizations, hypereosinophilia evaluation, or ABPA.

 

[jimanderson]

Is Allergy Immunology as hard as GI< Cards or Hem/Onc

A/I is generally considered very competitive mostly because of the few numbers of spots, you're often competing with peds applicants as well as other IM applicants for the same fellowship spots, and because it's a nice lifestyle. Most of the A/I fellows I've met have gotten into their fellowship in kind of a roundabout way, often by having close connections with the department (like having done research with them, or doing a related fellowship at the same hospital like pulmonary or rheum, etc).

The training is usually one year of clinical, and 1-2 years of research. The clinical training is mostly outpatient clinics, but the fellows will also do inpatient consults during their clinical time -- they may get called for things such as weird allergic reactions, drug desensitizations, hypereosinophilia evaluation, or ABPA.

 

[pedidoc]

I'm curious as well as to how competitive A/I is. I'm a peds intern and am looking for more information on this as a career option. I heard that you actually have to start earlier in the application process for A/I. I was just wondering if anyone had any information that would be helpful. The last thing I read said that they are taking foreign medical grads because they can't fill their programs. The A/I website was also discussing whether or not there is even a future for the specialty due to the decreasing number of interested applicants.

I was also wondering if anyone practices solo or knows anything about an A/I allergy practice pros/cons of having your own practice. It doesn't seem that call would be all that awful to cover, but I don't really know.

 

[handsports]

One of my friends in residency just went through the A/I application process. She was amazed how competitive A/I is. She went on 6-7 interviews and at each interview, the programs told her that they received 150-300 applications for 1-2 spots. She said that most of the other applicants she met only got 2-3 interviews after applying to >20 programs. Also, every fellow she met was U.S. trained.

About 5-7 years ago, A/I was not that competitive so the AAAAI started programs to get medical students and residents interested in the field. Since starting these programs, A/I interest has exploded and the AAAAI no longer offers a program for interested residents (I guess because it's not cost-effective).

Obviously, I am very interested in A/I too. Does anyone else have information?