title: Clinical laboratory immunology: an indispensable player in laboratory medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine and ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City; anne.tebo@hsc.utah.edu.
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Tebo
authors.affiliation: Immunology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD;
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Detrick
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Clinical Immunology Division, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD;
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL;
authors.forename: Aaruni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khanolkar
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Laboratory Medicine, and Pediatrics, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles;
authors.forename: Maurice R G
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: O'Gorman
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and.
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Cellular and Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
authors.forename: Roshini S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Abraham
mesh_terms: D000486:Allergy and Immunology / Q000193:education*; D002568:Certification; D064790:Clinical Laboratory Services / Q000592:standards; D003479:Curriculum; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D006801:Humans; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D007753:Laboratories; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000193:education*
keywords: Diagnostic immunology; Laboratory medicine; Postgraduate training