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How competitive is this field?
allergy & Immunology
- Thread starter MSV MD 2B
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Very competitive recently with many applicants for each fellowship position.A few years ago you couldnt give them away.
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okay, i've heard the exact opposite of this! my primary care physician in NYC has told me on numerous occasion that allergists are a thing of the past. my pcp simply drew my blood and sent it to the lab for allergy tests. he also ordered my allergy shots and gives them to me in his office. he has said that the new blood tests have eliminated the need for allergists and primary care docs can get certified or something (i dont' remember exactly what he said) to administer the shots in their offices.
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I attended the AAAAI convention earlier this year and here is there take on the future of A/I. First off it is a very alive field that is making huge advances everyday. Asthma is on the rise, so the role of an Allergist is still an important one.
As far as the job market goes, it is great right now and probably will be for a number of years. This is because it was a largely unpopular field for many years, and many practitioners are now retiring. Pay is good, starting around $140 with the potentional of $250, maybe even $300 (high end) mid career, with fairly normal office hours
It is a very competitive field right now. I believe there are only about 120 spots per year, and there are many more applicants that apply. As far as increasing spots, they are trying to, but even at that it will only be a few spots a year.
For all you aspiring Allergists, the advice that I was given by numerous fellows, and attendings in the field was to abviously do well in school and on your boards, but also get involved in some sort of allergy or immunology research and puplish if you can. Not just papers but abstracts too, just be first or second author. The days of easily getting a fellowship are gone and there are many competitive applicants out there, so try to make yourself standout.
Aside from that good luck and next year's AAAAI meeting is in San Francisco,sometime in march. There is a program you can apply to if you are a student and another program you can apply to if you are a resident that pays all of your expenses (flight, hotel, convention fees, etc.). Look into it next year.
As far as the job market goes, it is great right now and probably will be for a number of years. This is because it was a largely unpopular field for many years, and many practitioners are now retiring. Pay is good, starting around $140 with the potentional of $250, maybe even $300 (high end) mid career, with fairly normal office hours
It is a very competitive field right now. I believe there are only about 120 spots per year, and there are many more applicants that apply. As far as increasing spots, they are trying to, but even at that it will only be a few spots a year.
For all you aspiring Allergists, the advice that I was given by numerous fellows, and attendings in the field was to abviously do well in school and on your boards, but also get involved in some sort of allergy or immunology research and puplish if you can. Not just papers but abstracts too, just be first or second author. The days of easily getting a fellowship are gone and there are many competitive applicants out there, so try to make yourself standout.
Aside from that good luck and next year's AAAAI meeting is in San Francisco,sometime in march. There is a program you can apply to if you are a student and another program you can apply to if you are a resident that pays all of your expenses (flight, hotel, convention fees, etc.). Look into it next year.
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Allergists are hardly things of the past! Most allergy offices in NY are packed with patients.Much of an allergists practice consists asthma and sinus problems,for which they receive many consults.
As stated above.. with anticipated retirement of many currently in practice a strong demand for allergy will likely continue.
As stated above.. with anticipated retirement of many currently in practice a strong demand for allergy will likely continue.
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The immunology part of A/I is much more limited. It basically consists of treating people with all those obscure immunodefeciency disorders we all learned about like, Bruton's Agammagloninemia, Common Variable Immune disorder, Chronic Granulomatous disease, etc. They don't however treat any of the vasculitis, like lupus, that is a rheumatologists job. There is some overlap, and the immunology part of the job is certainly not your main patient population, but it is still part of the job.
D
deleted4401
I told my dean I was interested in A/I, and he really insisted that I try to do Med/Peds. The fellowship itself is split between adults and peds, so I can see why he told me to do it ...
Unfortunately, I have no desire to deal with adults, especially if I had to spend two years in a medicine residency with them, and only get to do peds for two years.
At that AAAAI conference (I did Chrysalis as well), they said that it used to be a pediatric field, but the recent numbers of fellows show a 60/40 split in favor of internists. Either way, you aren't really at an advantage or disadvantage, but I can see med/peds combined being somewhat advantageous ... I don't know for sure if that is the case.
It does sound like an amazing specialty, both clinically and at a research level. I can't wait to get to do an elective fourth year.
S
Unfortunately, I have no desire to deal with adults, especially if I had to spend two years in a medicine residency with them, and only get to do peds for two years.
At that AAAAI conference (I did Chrysalis as well), they said that it used to be a pediatric field, but the recent numbers of fellows show a 60/40 split in favor of internists. Either way, you aren't really at an advantage or disadvantage, but I can see med/peds combined being somewhat advantageous ... I don't know for sure if that is the case.
It does sound like an amazing specialty, both clinically and at a research level. I can't wait to get to do an elective fourth year.
S
