Careers in Immunology

[ennui]

I'm wondering what kind of careers are available for an immunologist in the U.K. and U.S.

 

I'm going to start a PhD in Immunology in October, which will last for 4 years. What kind of career paths could I go down?

 

A lot of the jobs I've seen online only pay about £15,000-£20,000 even with a PhD in Immunology. And from what I can discern, there are three major routes: academia (doing postdocs etc. at universities, maybe becoming a lecturer); health sector (working in the NHS, in a hospital lab, etc.); pharmaceutical (working for a pharm. company, doing research as part of a lab team.)

 

My personal preference would be to work as a clinical immunologist in the U.K., working for the NHS perhaps. From what I can gather, a clinical immunologist can have direct patient contact and act as a "doctor" (without the medical school) for people with viral problems. Is this correct? Some information says that as a clinical immunologist you can join the Royal College of Pathologists and run a hospital department, with your own 'clinic'.

 

It seems strange that anyone (even with a biomedical degree, PhD and membership into other things) could be allowed to deal directly with patients. But stuff on the Internet says it is possible. Maybe it works differently in the U.K and the U.S.

 

Are there any immunologists here who could shed some light on career options, or give some personal anecdotes of their experiences in this field?

 

Thanks.

[Callie]

I'm not totally convinced that is accurate.

 

Have you tried contacting hospitals that have this in place? or tired to speak to NHS immunologists?

 

I *think* great ormond street have a specialised immunology laboratory so maybe try contacting them - perhaps for a look around or just a chat to find out what kind of jobs are available.

[CharonY]

I would be surprised if that was true. From what I know clinical immunologists without an MD are usually analysts or supervise analysts. The could even supervise a department that does the respective analyzes.

However, while they can give recommendations I do not think that they may actually treat patients. I may be wrong, of course but I never heard of anything like it.

[ennui]

Yes, I'm very sceptical of it too. I couldn't imagine a scientist (however good) being let loose on a bunch of patients! Unfortunately, the information on the Internet is very scattered and woolly. It's hard to even pinpoint a salary range.

 

The website Prospects says a clinical immunologist can involve "working directly with patients and running specialised patient clinics," and gives a case-study of a clinical immunologist who "will attend clinics and become more directly involved with discussing patient treatment strategies."

 

The British Society for Immunology page says that a clinical immunologist can become a "consultant", and participate in clinic attendance. The language is difficult to interpret.

 

I might just start e-mailing some clinical immunologists and see what kind of work they do.

[Callie]

get networking ennui