University of Virginia Health System

Dear Applicants,

Thank you for your interest in the Allergy and Immunology training program at the University of Virginia. We currently have filled our 2008 positions but are recruiting 2 positions for 2009. Some changes have occurred in the past few years for A/I programs and we now participate in ERAS (http://www.aamc.org/students/eras/start.htm ) and NRMP(http://www.nrmp.org/fellow/index.html ). All applicants should be board certified or eligible in Internal Medicine or Pediatrics. We require 3 letters of recommendation and a personal statement submitted through ERAS. We are board certified by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (http://www.abai.org/) and we follow the Accredation Council of Graduate Medical Education (http://www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/nav_residents.asp) 6 competencies is all areas of our teaching.

We offer a wide range of training with rotations in through Medicine clinics and Pediatric clinics and offer several outside clinics to encourage training in all aspects. We have 5 full time clinical faculty and several more opportunities for research. While clinic rotations are required for all our fellows we encourage everyone to get involved in A/I research  and allow time for both. You will find on our website links to all faculty and their research interest.

Please browse our site for more information on the Division of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology and if you have any further questions feel free to contact us at sd4f@virginia.edu.

Sincerely,   

Thomas Platts-Mills, MD PhD                                              

Program Director                                                                   

Chief, Division Asthma, Allergy & Clinical Immunology 

Helpful links:

GME office: http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/housestaff/

Guide to living in Charlottesville:

http://www.virginia.edu/virginia/gradguide/index.html

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology:

http://www.aaaai.org/

American College of Asthma Allergy and Immunology:

http://www.acaai.org/

Brief Overview Allergy Fellowship:

The Division of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology offers a two-year combined Medicine and Pediatric Program. Trainees must complete the American Board of Internal Medicine or American Board of Pediatric requirements for specialty training in Internal Medicine or Pediatrics before they will be allowed to begin subspecialty training in Allergy. A trainee must be board certified in Internal Medicine or Pediatrics AND complete training in Allergy before they will be eligible for certification by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.

The University of Virginia Health System is a referral center providing primary and tertiary care for large portions of Virginia and West Virginia .  All outpatient services in Allergy are provided in Charlottesville. Outpatient facilities are located at Northridge and include Medicine and Pediatric clinics. .

Outpatient Clinics: The clinic provides a major portion of a fellow's education. Clinic is 1 1/2 day a week for the entire two years of the fellowship. The fellow works directly with one faculty member in clinic for a period of 4 months. At the end of 4 months, the fellow rotates to another faculty clinic thereby participating in a minimum of 4 different faculty clinics by the end of the fellowship. Additional clinics may be added as electives in the. Both a variety of attending management styles and a mix of patient disorders will be encountered. While rotating through a specific clinic, the fellow evaluates new patients, reviews progress of established patients, and participates in multidisciplinary aspects of the disease-specific clinic by participating in post-clinic conferences and tumor boards.

Consultation Services: The consultation services operate separately and independently, providing inpatient consultations. One fellow is assigned to the Allergy Consult Service and residents or medical students may also participate. The consult fellow coordinates the service's activities working closely with the consult attending, medical residents and medical students (if present). Consultation in Allergy are provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
 

Electives:  Elective time may be self-designed but requires approval of curriculum, goals and evaluation method by the program director. 

Research

Participation in a research project during the fellowship is required. Each fellow will pick a mentor at the beginning of the year, develop and present a research plan and provide updates to that plan periodically. Patient accrual into trials and intermittent study activity occur continuously and therefore fellows will frequently be participating simultaneously in research activities and other clinical rotations.

Teaching

Didactic lectures are an on going part of the fellowship and there are a number of conferences available to enhance this aspect of the fellowship. Conferences including Grand Rounds, journal club, occur several times a week. Fellows are required to teach residents and medical students on rotations and over the course of the 2 years the fellow prepares several journal club presentations and various posters and talks for presentation at local and national meetings.

Current Fellows