Official 2024-2025 Allergy & Immunology Application Thread

[Deecee2DO]

I think I’m cooked. I had way more interviews at this time last year.

its only First week of august though we have at least another month or more of interview invites way too early still to freak out

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[anaphyrelaxed]

its only First week of august though we have at least another month or more of interview invites way too early still to freak out

Current FIT. Agree that you guys got this and to trust yourself and the process!!

 

[hotsaws]

Upcoming applicant, anyone concerned at all about job market for non-city locations? For example less populated portions of the northeast or midwest? Would appreciate any insight if anyone has info about job market for areas such as those.

There are not alot of allergy jobs in non-city locations. I guess it depends what you mean by "non-city." I heard someone say one time that it takes about a population of 100,000 people to support an allergist. That seems about right. You don't really see allergists in rural or semi rural locations. Perhaps if the town itself is decent sized, say maybe 30-50,000 but has a catchment area that increases the relevant population. I don't know about all the specific areas. The northeast seems more population dense in general in terms of geography, whereas the midwest can have miles and miles of land between towns or a string of very small towns all 20-30 miles apart. Your best bet is probably to google the towns you are thinking of and see if they have an allergist. My guess is you'll find scattered solo practices or a big multispecialty clinic that might have one allergist. In areas that are served by a large health system that has multispecialty clinics, you might find that an allergist has a clinic one day a week in different smaller towns. You might also find that a private group based out of a larger city might have a satellite office in a neighboring smaller town where an allergist goes for one or two days a week. However, if some allergist has created a niche in a town like say St. Cloud, MN, they probably would just hire a midlevel if they need to expand a little. Realistically, you'd probably either need to find an allergist nearing retirement or be willing to go start your own practice and see if you can capture the market share.

Now if by "non city" you mean suburbs....well, yeah A/I thrives in the burbs. The market seems to have gone in waves even since I started following it, which is only since med school. Job postings seem to increase in late winter or early spring because they are probably targeting graduating fellows. Cold calling is still a thing. If you know the geographic area you want to work in, start reaching out to every practice in the area as early as possible. Starting a practice is still a viable option in A/I, although might be a little harder for a new grad since your academic fellowship probably isn't gonna be great about teaching you about the business side of things. The new grads (in any field) that start businesses after training have a leg up, either a parent/family member that is a PP doc or at least someone close to them who knows how to run a business. You would have to be pretty savvy to just walk out of fellowship and successfully start your own business from the ground up.

 

[Theresilientone]

Agree that it is quite early but the anxiety is real knowing that other applicants have 5+ interviews while it is silent over here. Will hold on to hope as others have said above

 

[Immunepotential]

Agree that it is quite early but the anxiety is real knowing that other applicants have 5+ interviews while it is silent over here. Will hold on to hope as others have said above

You are not alone my friend! Let’s hope for the best🤞🏻

 

[Deecee2DO]

You are not alone my friend! Let’s hope for the best🤞🏻

Agree that it is quite early but the anxiety is real knowing that other applicants have 5+ interviews while it is silent over here. Will hold on to hope as others have said above

People with over 5 interviews likely applied to a ton of programs (60-70+). There are a lot of programs who havent sent invites yet. How many did you apply to?

 

[Theresilientone]

People with over 5 interviews likely applied to a ton of programs (60-70+). There are a lot of programs who havent sent invites yet. How many did you apply

I initially applied to 37 but then freaked out and added a lot more. I don't think the ones I added last week counts though as programs likely will not re-download applications but wanted to give it a shot.

 

[Deecee2DO]

I initially applied to 37 but then freaked out and added a lot more. I don't think the ones I added last week counts though as programs likely will not re-download applications but wanted to give it a shot.

I applied to 42 because those are the only places I would be happy living. As a young single male i would not be happy living in a rural area with nothing to do and would rather reapply in worst case possible scenario until i got one of the 42

 

[doctadude]

Are you all that are currently applying PGY-2 or 3? I’m finding mixed information.

 

[immunowl]

Are you all that are currently applying PGY-2 or 3? I’m finding mixed information.

PGY-3 IM. I think you need to be in your last year of residency to apply (or done residency of course)

 

[lebronisthegoat23]

Seems like everywhere got a record number of applicants again. Unfortunate.

 

[Medgirlie2727]

Anyone else not gotten a single thing on Thalamus yet? I'm starting to wonder if my Thalamus is even working...

 

[Deecee2DO]

Seems like everywhere got a record number of applicants again. Unfortunate.

How do you know

 

[lebronisthegoat23]

Anecdotal evidence from three current fellows who talked to their PD.

 

[drobgyn32]

Is UPenn as well known for medicine e.g. A/I as it is for other stuff? Like does the "Ivy" still hold weight?

 

[Deecee2DO]

Is UPenn as well known for medicine e.g. A/I as it is for other stuff? Like does the "Ivy" still hold weight?

Allergy doesnt have tiers per se like IM but more so different programs are known for different things (ie UCSD for angioedema, Sinai for food allergies, Duke for PID). Also, prestige in A/I doesnt really mean anything unless you want a career in academics. Overall, with that said UPenn is VERY strong in A/I, a research powerhouse and still carries a prestigious name in the A/I world as well as societal prestige. Not just because its Ivy though (for example Brown and Dartmouth are probably not on the same level as say MGH BWH or UPenn for A/I when it comes to research pedigree/academics). Just my 2 cents interacting with people in the field. One would need to have a very competitive application to interview there for A/I and a good amount of research I presume.

 

[Jocelyn1324]

How is the application season going for everyone? I can't tell if all the super competitive people are answering the posts on the google sheet page because sounds like everyone has like 10+ interviews.

 

[Deecee2DO]

How is the application season going for everyone? I can't tell if all the super competitive people are answering the posts on the google sheet page because sounds like everyone has like 10+ interviews.

No i dont think everyone has more than 10. Reddit always self selects for the highly competitive applicants and usually not representative of the norm or avg population of applicants imo. People with high numbers of interviews are more likely to report them. Realistically most people with 7 or more invites match fine based on previous years and talking with my mentors. I mean just look at the Step threads everyone and their mother seems to have 260s on reddit but we both know this is not real life its just reddit 🤣

 

[Deecee2DO]

265 applicants this year. wow

 

[drobgyn32]

265 applicants this year. wow

For how many A/I positions?

 

[Deecee2DO]

For how many A/I positions?

I think 174. if thats accurate thats like cards/GI numbers

 

[illi1994]

Do we know last years number needed to match? I had trouble finding it on the NRMP outcomes report.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Do we know last years number needed to match? I had trouble finding it on the NRMP outcomes report.

I think there was some poll i read on past years spreadsheets that was saying 8-9 was the sweet spot that most matched fellows had as far as invites

 

[drobgyn32]

What's the lowest you've heard that anyone match on their rank list?

 

[Deecee2DO]

What's the lowest you've heard that anyone match on their rank list?

not sure but i know someone last year matching at their last rank idk how common that is but stats wise NRMP says 55% match in their top 3. I think it’s hard to match your number one because of how small the specialty is and how little spots there are. anecdotally I feel like matching in your top five is relatively likely.

 

[Jocelyn1324]

No i dont think everyone has more than 10. Reddit always self selects for the highly competitive applicants and usually not representative of the norm or avg population of applicants imo. People with high numbers of interviews are more likely to report them. Realistically most people with 7 or more invites match fine based on previous years and talking with my mentors. I mean just look at the Step threads everyone and their mother seems to have 260s on reddit but we both know this is not real life its just reddit 🤣

Thanks, that actually makes me feel a lot better! 265 applicants is such an insane number. I wonder if COVID has anything to do with this and a shift to an outpatient speciality?

 

[Deecee2DO]

Thanks, that actually makes me feel a lot better! 265 applicants is such an insane number. I wonder if COVID has anything to do with this and a shift to an outpatient speciality?

Good im glad it could provide some reassurance! Allergy is an attractive specialty for so many reasons haha lifestyle, income, happy patients etc so im not surprised in the rise. if it was 1 yr of prelim followed by 3 years of A/I id imagine it wiuld be near derm competitive. Best of luck to you with interviews this cycle!