Allergy/immunology

[medhopeful82]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I couldn't find any recent posts about anyone exploring or wanting to go into allergy and immunology, what is the general consesus on this speciality? Is it still interesting and somewhat good variety of cases or 90% of the time are you seeing seasonal allergies that need some Claritin?

After my past year in virology and immunology research I am very interested in autoimmune disorders / antibody treatments, but don't know how much of this I'd actually get to do vs the everyday allergy complaint. Any insite to where this field is headed would be greatly appreciated!

 

[IgEdoc]

First off, the specialty offers great lifestyle and in a HMO like environment it means 9 to 5 M-F, practically NO call, no inpatient care or consulting (if desired). Salaries are excellent.
Focus is in allergic diseases whereas immunology cases are infrequent but this depends on how/where you will be practicing. Immunology can become your primary focus and keep you busy in the right environment
Consults are usually allergic rhinitis > asthma > atopic dermatitis, urticaria/angioedema, food allergy > insect allergy > others. Past few years, there has been on onslaught of severe atopic issues with total IgEs in the many thousands, opening looks into Hyper IgE syndromes or involving intense treatments.
Lots of what we do is education based on history, patterns and correlation with testing to determine avoidance and treatment (preferably control/healing versus "band aids" like antihistamines)
The interesting part of practicing AI is that you need to keep an open mind in analyzing each consult. Many referrals turn out to be more complicated cases with no allergic issues and it ends up to you solving what the referring physician missed.
I have diagnosed lymphoma, pulmonary embolism, CSF rhinorrhea, myasthenia gravis, hypothryroidism, colon CA in situ (presented as generalize pruritis so, of course, it has to be "allergies") and plenty of GERD to name a few.

 

[bceagle411]

If youre interested in that field i recommend reading " An epidemic of absence". Great read

 

[medhopeful82]

First off, the specialty offers great lifestyle and in a HMO like environment it means 9 to 5 M-F, practically NO call, no inpatient care or consulting (if desired). Salaries are excellent.
Focus is in allergic diseases whereas immunology cases are infrequent but this depends on how/where you will be practicing. Immunology can become your primary focus and keep you busy in the right environment
Consults are usually allergic rhinitis > asthma > atopic dermatitis, urticaria/angioedema, food allergy > insect allergy > others. Past few years, there has been on onslaught of severe atopic issues with total IgEs in the many thousands, opening looks into Hyper IgE syndromes or involving intense treatments.
Lots of what we do is education based on history, patterns and correlation with testing to determine avoidance and treatment (preferably control/healing versus "band aids" like antihistamines)
The interesting part of practicing AI is that you need to keep an open mind in analyzing each consult. Many referrals turn out to be more complicated cases with no allergic issues and it ends up to you solving what the referring physician missed.
I have diagnosed lymphoma, pulmonary embolism, CSF rhinorrhea, myasthenia gravis, hypothryroidism, colon CA in situ (presented as generalize pruritis so, of course, it has to be "allergies") and plenty of GERD to name a few.

Thanks for the insight, it sounds like a great field!

 

[nellbot2000]

Look into rheumatology if you are interested in immunology and also enjoy research in the field.