In America, while many of fellowship training programs in allergy and immunology have general similarities, a slight difference has been observed. For instance, the Division of Allergy and Immunology in The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia designed a three-year Fellowship Program to prepare pediatricians for careers in academic pediatric allergy and immunology. The first year is being dedicated to clinical training while the second and third years focus on research training in either the clinical or basic sciences.
On the other hand, Mayo Clinic Allergy and Immunology Fellowship in Rochester, Minnesota offers the option for two or three years of study. They have customized fellowship program encouraging physicians the option to plan a curriculum that meets their individual career objectives. Should they be interested in clinical allergy and/or clinical immunology, they have the option to select assignments from a broad range of clinical subspecialty electives.
They also have other option of participating in the clinical research program run by the Allergic Diseases Research Laboratory if they are more interested in a career in laboratory research or clinical investigation. Mayo Clinic Fellowship Program in Allergy and Immunology only requires at least one year of clinical training in allergy and immunology and at least nine months of laboratory experience in allergy, immunology or pulmonary physiology. The third year is optional offering the opportunity to conduct in-depth research.
Both of these two Clinics in Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Program require clinical experience that includes both pediatric allergy/immunology and adult allergy/immunology. History of Fellowship The A-I division originated over 75 years ago when voluntary faculty cared for economically deprived patients under the leadership of the late Leon Unger, MD and subsequently Samuel M. Feinberg, MD. Since the early years, primary objectives of the Division of Allergy-Immunology have been high-quality patient care and education of patients, students, residents, and fellows.
In recent decades under the leadership of Dr. Patterson, a vigorous research program was added to the core of programmatic goals of the division. Clinically, the A-I division is a referral center of local, regional, and national stature. Areas of clinical excellence include asthma, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, idiopathic anaphylaxis, drug allergy, occupational immunologic lung disease, and allergen immunotherapy.
The A-I Division maintains a federally licensed CLIA laboratory, which provides diagnostic testing for allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, hypersensitivity pneumonitis and occupational immunologic lung disease, and testing for other markers of disease is available upon request. The American Board of Allergy and Immunology The ABAI was established in 1971 as a Conjoint Board of the ABIM and ABP. The internal medicine subspecialty existed from 1936-1971 and the pediatric subspecialty existed from 1944-1971.
The ABAI is committed to working closely with its parent boards to maintain the highest educational and clinical standards in the specialty of allergy/immunology. The development of allergy and immunology presented in this article provides a systematic and chronological order. Nevertheless, this is only an arrangement of significant events in the history of allergy and immunology. There has been an apparent “slow development” leading down unto many experiments before finding the appropriate one. While there have been remarkable milestones in this field, there still exists arguments from different thoughts on the immune system.
Others would claim that a lot of these developments were accidental and some took a long time to be developed into established principles. Apart from this, one thing is certain: man has never failed to continue searching for another breakthrough in the field of allergy and immunology.
References
1. Fulford T & Lee D. The Jenneration of Disease: Vaccination, Romanticism, and Revolution. Studies in Romanticism 2000; 39(1): 139. 2. Potera C. Engineering Allergy Relief? Environmental Health Perspectives 2003; 111(5): 272.