Interested in Allergy but dislike Immuno

[PCPDoc983]

I just finished a 4 week allergy elective and really enjoyed my experience. The ability to work with kids and adults and make a difference in terms of quality of life, as well as the diagnostic aspects were all pretty appealing to me.

I would really want to consider a fellowship in this, but I am not too fond of immunology (i find it to be cumbersome and difficult to memorize) or basic science research, for that matter. Would I struggle in this fellowship/specialty if I truly did not like immunology?

I was told you could just be a PCP and learn allergy testing/PFT's and offer those services to your patients without doing the fellowship...would that actually work?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[nature4me]

I just finished a 4 week allergy elective and really enjoyed my experience. The ability to work with kids and adults and make a difference in terms of quality of life, as well as the diagnostic aspects were all pretty appealing to me.

I would really want to consider a fellowship in this, but I am not too fond of immunology (i find it to be cumbersome and difficult to memorize) or basic science research, for that matter. Would I struggle in this fellowship/specialty if I truly did not like immunology?

I was told you could just be a PCP and learn allergy testing/PFT's and offer those services to your patients without doing the fellowship...would that actually work?

I think you should like both Allergology and Immunology if you wanna feel happy with your career.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I just finished a 4 week allergy elective and really enjoyed my experience. The ability to work with kids and adults and make a difference in terms of quality of life, as well as the diagnostic aspects were all pretty appealing to me.

I would really want to consider a fellowship in this, but I am not too fond of immunology (i find it to be cumbersome and difficult to memorize) or basic science research, for that matter. Would I struggle in this fellowship/specialty if I truly did not like immunology?

I was told you could just be a PCP and learn allergy testing/PFT's and offer those services to your patients without doing the fellowship...would that actually work?

Probably yes, but don't expect the same reimbursement. FM's who do derm procedures don't get paid like derms.

Also, I'm not sure how you can get a great grasp of allergy if you don't understand basic immunology.

 

[Extracts]

I just finished a 4 week allergy elective and really enjoyed my experience. The ability to work with kids and adults and make a difference in terms of quality of life, as well as the diagnostic aspects were all pretty appealing to me.

I would really want to consider a fellowship in this, but I am not too fond of immunology (i find it to be cumbersome and difficult to memorize) or basic science research, for that matter. Would I struggle in this fellowship/specialty if I truly did not like immunology?

I was told you could just be a PCP and learn allergy testing/PFT's and offer those services to your patients without doing the fellowship...would that actually work?

I can speak for my co-fellows in that we could probably do without the immunology portion of our training. However, as what was said the immunology portion is key to learning allergy. In academic centers the allergist/immunologist deals with primary immunodeficiencies, etc. You need some interest in immunology because you will get consulted in immunology related issues as a practicing allergist/immunologist.

I guess, just like anything in medicine you can set up shop and learn allergy testing/PFTs without doing a fellowship. However, no one is going to refer patients to you. It cost a lot of money to maintain allergen extracts. You will also need trained techs/nurses in skin prick testing and allergy shots. Spirometry machines cost about 50k by itself. It would be difficult to get a good return on your investment, when you're doing allergy part time.

If you like Allergy. Go ahead and suck it up for two years. You might grow to like/love the immunology portion of your training. Btw, the fellowship (at least mine) offers a great lifestyle with plenty of self study and research time.

 

[manahilb]

Honestly in private practice all what you see 90% is atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, asthma and urticaria /angioedema . Rarely do you see immune deficiencies. The reason that comes to mind is that they are rare to begin with and need to be followed at a large facility that can offer the detailed testing and evaluation ( both time and diagnostic lab facilities ) so they get referred to univ ctrs. You really would only need to learn to be able to pick that someone may have an immune def , do the prelim work up and then send them to a univ ctr................... Now this may cause some of my colleagues to raise their eyebrows but honestly it is what it is. If however you chose a uinv ctr as your practice setting than you will end up seeing some immune deficiencies..... note that I said some
I used to be very stressed by immune system and basic sciences but personally I ended up enjoying the immune deficiencies a lot. They are a challenge. I don't mind immunotherapy and fixing blocked noses but after a while it can become somewhat boring and then one craves for a challenge .
BTW I am in private practice

 

[Extracts]

Honestly in private practice all what you see 90% is atopic dermatitis, rhinitis, asthma and urticaria /angioedema . Rarely do you see immune deficiencies. The reason that comes to mind is that they are rare to begin with and need to be followed at a large facility that can offer the detailed testing and evaluation ( both time and diagnostic lab facilities ) so they get referred to univ ctrs. You really would only need to learn to be able to pick that someone may have an immune def , do the prelim work up and then send them to a univ ctr................... Now this may cause some of my colleagues to raise their eyebrows but honestly it is what it is. If however you chose a uinv ctr as your practice setting than you will end up seeing some immune deficiencies..... note that I said some
I used to be very stressed by immune system and basic sciences but personally I ended up enjoying the immune deficiencies a lot. They are a challenge. I don't mind immunotherapy and fixing blocked noses but after a while it can become somewhat boring and then one craves for a challenge .
BTW I am in private practice

Not to hijack the thread, but how do you like private practice? I'm currently working in the military