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Members Member Resources AAAAI News AAAAI eNews AAAAI Job Placement Center Promoting your Practice Order Public Education Materials Disease Management/ Ask the Expert Teaching Slides Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Education and Research Trust (ART) Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2007 Accomplishments Annual Meeting Executive Staff Contacts Online Membership Directory AAAAI Organizational Structure » Members Contact Members Town Hall Message Board AAAAI: Professional Home for the Practicing Allergist Grants and Awards Hot Topics Joint Council of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (JCAAI) ST*AR Program AAAAI Assembly overview Allied Health Federation of the RSLAAI Societies International Military Allergy New Allergist/Immunologist Assembly Program Directors Organizational Chart Board of Directors Interest Sections Committees Fellows-in-Training Allied Health Professional Assembly Federation of RSLAAIS International Assembly Military Allergy Assembly New Allergist/Immunologist Assembly Program Directors Associates		Academy News: June 2004 FITs can change attitudes By Sunil Joshi, MD During the first two years of my internal medicine residency, I had minimal exposure to allergic disease or the specialty in general. As I began to consider a fellowship in allergy/immunology, many of the faculty and my resident colleagues would discourage me. At the time, it was very disappointing to hear such negative sentiment about this wonderful specialty, but now I realize that these statements were simply made out of ignorance. Most physicians have minimal knowledge of the basic science behind allergic disease, and are even less versed in the mechanisms of treatment. They also have a skewed view of the role of an allergist/immunologist. Many of the residents who participate in an allergy rotation know nothing about skin tests or immunotherapy. Even more shocking is that they are surprised that we take care of patients with asthma or chronic urticaria. How do we change the perception that residents and staff physicians have about us? Teaching, teaching and more teaching. Education can open one’s mind. I have personally witnessed how allergy instruction can shift attitudes about our profession. For example, as a chief resident, I made it a point to mix in allergy issues during morning report, and routinely discussed topics such as asthma, allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA), allergic fungal sinusitis, vocal cord dysfunction, immune deficiency and eosinophilic pneumonia. Not only did the residents hear about things previously not discussed, the immediate effect was that they gained an appreciation for the role of the allergist/immunologist. The long-term impact, in this case, is that two of the residents decided to pursue allergy/immunology fellowships. This example illustrates that we can make a difference. Fellows-in-training should take every opportunity to teach residents, whether it is during their outpatient elective, noon conference, journal club, dinner lectures or even when being consulted, to assess for a penicillin allergy in the hospital. If we seize the moment to educate these young physicians, they will not only respect the specialty, but will also feel comfortable allowing us to participate in the care of their patients. Even after completing our fellowships, we will all have the chance to teach family doctors, internists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. This can occur at city, county or state medical society meetings or even with the assistance of industry. Generalists should be made aware of the recent report in the Archives of Internal Medicine that suggests that allergist/immunologists are more cost-effective managers of asthma, as our care leads to fewer hospitalizations, ED visits and an improved quality of life. With the prevalence of allergic diseases increasing, hopefully an allergist/immunologist’s role will also grow. As new immunomodulatory treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies against cytokines, chemokine receptors and IgE develop, the future of our specialty seems bright and exciting. It should be our focus to educate our non-allergist/immunologist colleagues about the specialized services that we not only understand, but also are uniquely qualified to administer. As FITs we have the ability to change attitudes about our profession, while improving our colleagues’ knowledge of allergic disease. We should take advantage of this opportunity. <back>
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