Fellow Education

Although recognized for its scientific achievements, the Division of Allergy & Immunology is highly committed to excellence in clinical care and teaching. Toward this end, our Allergy & Immunology Training Program, directed by Dr. David Khan, has grown in both size and stature with four fully funded fellowship positions since it enrolled its first fellow in 1982.

Balanced Clinical Experiences

Our view is that successful training in Allergy and Immunology should consist of balanced exposure to training experiences involving adults and children, no matter what the training background or the long-term plans of any particular Fellow in Training. Dr. Rebecca Gruchalla and Dr. David Khan oversee the adult teaching clinics at Parkland, while Dr. Maite de la Morena, Dr. Indu Warrier, and Dr. Drew Bird oversee the teaching clinics at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Further staffing of both adult and pediatric clinics is provided by our 29 volunteer clinical faculty. Approximately 40 percent of Allergy Fellows have come from pediatric housestaff programs, and approximately half of the outpatient clinics required of Allergy and Immunology Fellows primarily involve children. Review the schedule of training activities.

Diversified Training Experiences

The UT Southwestern program offers a diversity of clinical experiences in Allergy & Immunology. We have a strong primary immunodeficiency program and are one of the Diagnostic and Research Centers for the Jeffrey Modell Centers Network. In addition, a new Food Allergy Center has opened for clinical and research purposes at Children’s Medical Center.

Our Adult Allergy Division operates the Parkland Asthma Clinic, which oversees the care of adult patients with moderate to severe asthma. Our clinics at the Aston Ambulatory Care center are tertiary/quaternary referral centers for patients with chronic urticaria, drug allergies, hereditary angioedema, common variable immunodeficiency, mastocytosis, and anaphylaxis.

Fellows also have exposure to other common conditions including rhinitis, asthma, sinusitis, and atopic dermatitis in both our pediatric and adult clinics. 

Research

All fellows are required to participate in at least one research project. Current and past projects have been extremely diverse - most clinically oriented and some involving basic science - a reflection of the differing interests of our past and current fellows. Because training positions are fully funded by Parkland Memorial Hospital and Childrens Medical Center, and not by Federal Training Grants, our fellows are encouraged to consider research opportunities in a diversity of fields.

Fellows are encouraged to present the results of their research studies at national meetings. The majority of fellows are able to publish at least one manuscript based on their fellowship training.

National Allergy and Immunology Meetings

Fellows in training are encouraged to travel to one national meeting during each of the two training years and are provided financial support for this purpose.

Success of Training Program Graduates

Within the past decade, 100 percent of the graduates of UT Southwestern’s Allergy & Immunology training program have passed the American Board of Allergy and Immunology certifying examination. Most graduates are currently in private or group practice settings, however, a few have become full-time medical school faculty members. More than half of our clinical faculty are prior graduates of the Allergy & Immunology training program.

Read a message from the fellowship program director, Dr. David Khan.