General Structure
The fellowship is combined with two tracks: pediatrics and internal medicine. The general duration of the fellowship training is 3 years divided into 1 clinical and 2 research years. This plan has been implemented by the pediatric track starting in 1999, and was implemented by the internal medicine track in 2004 after funding for the additional year was secured by the NIH T32 grant.
The clinical year includes attendance in allergy and immunology clinics and consulting on the inpatient services. To widen the clinical exposure, the fellows have elective rotations of 1-2 months in laboratory immunology, stem cell transplant, dermatology, pulmonary medicine and the pulmonary function laboratory, rheumatology and otolaryngology.
The cross-training consists of a full day in the outpatient clinics of the opposite primary specialty for one year or a half day spread over two years leaving 80-90% of the time during the two years of training dedicated to research. Didactic and research meetings are an integral part of the program.
Training is flexible in that residents with a background in a combined internal medicine / pediatrics residency can structure their training to have equal time on both tracks. The order of the training years can vary according to the fellow's readiness. One model is to have the first year dedicated to clinical training and preparation for research, and the following 2 years dedicated to research and cross-training. Another model starts the fellow with 2 years of research and cross-training followed by 1 year of clinical training.
