Careers in Medicine: Specialty Information

Allergy and Immunology

Nature of the work

An allergist-immunologist evaluates, diagnoses and manages disorders involving the immune system. Selected examples of such conditions include asthma, anaphylaxis, rhinitis, eczema, and adverse reactions to drugs, foods and insect stings as well as immunodeficiency diseases, defects in host defense, and problems related to autoimmune disease, organ transplantation or malignancies of the immune system. As our scope of the immune system develops, the scope of this specialty is widening.

Training/residency information

Allergy-immunology requires a three-year residency in internal medicine or pediatrics, followed by a two-year fellowship in allergy-immunology.

Workforce and salary information

According to a report prepared for the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology by SUNY-Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies, "the demand for allergist/immunologists is likely to rise over the next several years driven in part by the increasing prevalence of allergy and asthma related conditions and the increasing complexity of treatment interventions. The expansion of managed care is unlikely to reduce demand for services by formally trained allergists." The annual salary for allergy/immunology ranges from $100,250 to $206,000.

For more information

• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
• American Association of Immunologists
• American Board of Allergy and Immunology

Source: American Board of Medical Specialties, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the Faculty Salary Survey, 2004, Association of American Medical Colleges

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