Clinical laboratory immunology: an indispensable player in laboratory medicine.

Abstract

Clinical laboratory immunology affects practically every aspect of medicine. Accordingly, appropriately trained, board-certified clinical laboratory immunologists are key contributors to the diagnosis and management of patients with various immune-mediated conditions. This review highlights the availability of postdoctoral level training programs for clinical laboratory immunology and identifies possible career tracks. Fundamental elements for doctoral level clinical laboratory immunologists are identified and the critical components of diagnostic immunology training as well as career opportunities in and out of academia are described. Relative to other disciplines in laboratory medicine, little emphasis has been given to clinical laboratory immunology in medical, graduate, and postgraduate training. Formal postgraduate fellowship programs and board certification examinations are available, yet there remains a significant lack of awareness in the medical education community about the value and necessity of training in this field. It is anticipated that sharing this knowledge will increase awareness of the discipline of clinical laboratory immunology at the postdoctoral level with implications for the practice of laboratory medicine.