État des connaissances et besoins en formation en biologie de l’allergie : enquête du Groupe de Travail Biologie de l’Allergie de la Société française d’allergologie à l’intention des jeunes allergologues

Abstract

Blood tests are an essential tool for the diagnosis and management of allergy. Learning how to interpret test results is therefore essential for the physician. Due to the diversity of their education, young allergists do not all have the same training. At the request of the French Society of Allergology (SFA) Scientific Committee, the In vitro Diagnosis Working Group carried out a survey for young allergists in order to evaluate their level of initial training in allergy in vitro diagnosis and to know their expectations in terms of continuing medical education. A total of 162 allergists were consulted and 36 responded. Half of them considered that they had sufficient training in allergy in vitro diagnosis and 50% considered themselves competent in the interpretation of tests. For their continuing medical education, they use the websites of learned societies (SFA, EEACI), scientific journals and webinars and consider them satisfactory or very satisfactory. More than 95% of them are in favour of the online availability of summary sheets or reference documents in in vitro diagnosis, and all of them would consult these tools if they were accessible on the SFA website. In conclusion, the training of young allergists in allergy blood tests needs to be completed and standardised, both theoretically and practically. Several educational tools are available and popular to achieve this and help them to keep valuable skills up to date.