CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY AS A NEW SPECIALTY IN PUBLIC HEALTH: A MODEL FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Abstract

The extraordinary, rapid development of immunology, with its increasing significance in almost all other branches of the medical sciences, has created new needs with respect to the teaching of this subject in the medical curriculum. ’ ’ This initial paragraph of a 1967 WHO technical report (No. 358) recognized the urgent need to develop medical school teaching programs in immunology. The report also stressed the close link between immunology and clinical disciplines and suggested a model for integrating the work of several specialists within the basic structure of an immunology unit (1). The same report presented the opinion of the British Society for Immunology on this topic and provided examples of immunology programs in several medical schools around the world.