Immunology (including Allergy) Training in Bristol

• 5 year training program, PMETB approved, following on (at ST3) from core medical training.
• Entirely Bristol based at Southmead Hospital. No rotation, but periods of attachment (e.g. Great Ormond street London) - if required - for aspects of training.
• Linked to the HIV service in North Bristol NHS Trust.
• North Bristol Trust is  a new hospital (completed 2014) with A&E and regional services including Trauma, renal transplant, neurosurgery and burns.
• Clinical Services closely linked to Immunology, on site, include renal, rheumatology, infectious diseases and HIV services.
• Collaboration with Paediatric Immunology & Allergy services (3 miles way) at Bristol Children's Hospital.

General Information

Vacancies: both posts are currently filled.

NB: If interested email Claire.Bethune@nhs.net, Training Programme Director based in our Peninsula region – across the UK there are 35 training posts and an active communication network between Immunologists. There may be vacant slots elsewhere.

Staff

Our team includes three full time consultants, two medical trainee posts, two specialist nurses, and fifteen laboratory staff (including renal HLA cross matching / transplant team).

Background

The clinical practice of Immunology, as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) encompasses clinical and laboratory activity (approximately 70% / 30% time split), dealing with the study, diagnosis and management of patients with diseases resulting from disordered immunological mechanisms, and conditions in which immunological manipulations form an important part of therapy.

Clinic and Bedside Immunology

In the UK, Immunology is an expanding specialty, running busy clinics in allergy, immunodeficiency, autoimmune disease, and systemic vasculitis (lupus, cryoglobulinaemia, etc). Clinical Immunology has evolved over the past two decades from a predominant laboratory base to a combined clinical and laboratory specialty. The clinical work of Immunologists is largely out-patient and day case based, but a sound general medical background is required for ward referral consultations. Inpatients are few but typically complex rare syndromes .

Immunotherapies

These are mainly delivered in day case sesions and include:

• Immunotherapy (allergy desensitization)
• Monoclonal antibody (immunosuppressive) therapies
• Immunosuppressive chemotherapies
• Immunoglobulin (IVIg), cytokine, and other immunodeficiency replacement strategies

Laboratory Immunology

On the laboratory front, Consultant Immunologists are responsible for directing diagnostic immunology services and perform a wide range of duties including clinical liaison, interpretation and validation of results, quality assurance and assay development.

Why Immunology

• This is a new expanding specialty.
• The wide variety of clinical problems encountered by an Immunologist and the opportunity to solve difficult diagnostic problems in patients with complex multi-system disease brings with it a huge intellectual buzz.
• The excitement of working in a specialty, which is closely linked to cutting edge science and new immuno-modulatory therapies.
• Private practice is provided mainly in the context of allergy referrals.
• Light (or zero) on call duties.

This page was last updated August 30th 2022 (2 years ago)