A Word from the Program Director: Amal Assa'ad, MD
"I want to train the leaders of the future in allergy and immunology. This is not a statement I take lightly."
Amal Assa'ad, MD, Director, Allergy and Immunology Fellowship Program
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What I Want to Achieve |
How I Achieve My Goal Why do I do it?
My web bio is available to examine as you please. I would like to give you a glimpse into the reasons for my motivation and enthusiasm for training fellows in allergy and immunology.
It starts with my great admiration for the residents who apply for fellowship training. They are among the best and the brightest, who after eleven long years of college, medical school and residency, still have the urge to spend three more years in 'training'.
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What do I want to achieve and why?
I want to train the leaders of the future in allergy and immunology. This is not a statement I take lightly. Allergy and immunology has currently great leaders in the areas of research, education and clinical care, however, there is a gap in the ranks between the current leaders and the much fewer younger physician scientists rising in the ranks. Work force data has consistently shown that 80-90% of allergy and immunology graduates join private practices, leaving only 10-20% of graduates for possible academic appointments, where new leaders are forged. Even out of very academically oriented programs, the rate of retention in academics goes only up to 45%.
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How will I achieve my goal?
Preparing a fellow for academic career takes more than a slogan. It takes a division of allergy and immunology that is centered on academic effort and research, faculty that have the enthusiasm and experience to mentor fellows and literally hold their hand through the initial steps of the maze of academics. The division needs to have a large number of faculty who are conducting cutting edge research and defining newer areas of research. The environment in the institution has to be supportive for research and collaboration. Finally, the clinical aspects of the division's activity have to be diversified to serve patients' needs, all the while offering them exciting opportunities to participate in clinical and translational research.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati have created this environment that is most conducive to success in academic medicine. Our Divisions of Allergy and Immunology are prime examples of the growth and success of academic divisions in this nurturing environment. I want to 'show off' to every fellowship candidate what a great place we have. To those who chose us and entrust us with the following 3 years of their lives to allow us to form them into successful physician scientists, I want to 'show them the ropes', and make them capitalize on their own areas of excellence to achieve their personal goals of academic development and advancement.
Our fellowship is very well thought out and planned to allow the fellows to march towards their goals. It comes complete with personalized mentoring in the form of a scientific oversight committee for every fellow, researchers who are heavily NIH funded and who have a long track record of training physicians and researchers, and clinical faculty who have a national and worldwide reputation in their sub-specialty and who attract complex medical cases that provide a truly unparalleled clinical experience. This excellence was rewarded by the NIH by funding our T32 grant to train allergy and immunology fellows in our program. Most important, this excellent training occurs in an atmosphere of utmost caring and a lot of fun.
You do not have to take my word for it; I will let one of our fellows tell you...
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