Short course

Allergy

Through this course you will learn about the clinical presentations, clinical approach and management of common allergic diseases, with a focus on those that can affect either upper or lower airways and anaphylaxis. This course also covers the practical aspects of allergy diagnosis.

Start date
May 2025
Duration
Two days
Mode
Face-to-face
Cost
Home microcredential fee: £1170 Microcredential international fee: £3260 Non-credit fee: £970
Level
Postgraduate Microcredential
Credit
20 credits

Microcredential overview

This microcredential covers practical aspects of allergy diagnosis, investigation and management, and includes all major allergic diseases, with a focus on those affecting the nose and lung.

A mix of lectures, small group and interactive presentations are used for teaching, as well as optional exposure to clinical environments.

It is suitable for students with prior biomedical science training, and is typically sat within the MSc Respiratory Medicine or alongside respiratory modules, however we also accept students enrolled on related health programmes, or as a standalone module.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

  • Global trends in allergic diseases
  • Clearly understand indications, limitations and interpretation of allergy tests
  • Describe detailed features of anaphylaxis, critically appraise the following: triggers and mechanisms behind anaphylaxis, immediate treatment of anaphylaxis, education of the patient/carer regarding use of an adrenaline auto-injector and referral pathway for specialist input
  • Critically appraise principles of management of allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic eczema and food allergy including current national and international guidelines
  • Critically appraise allergen-specific immunotherapy (desensitisation), who is suitable for this treatment and when to refer to an allergy specialist
  • Explain drug allergy labelling, de-labelling and referral pathways for drug allergy tests
  • Perform the following tasks: Advanced drug allergy history taking, documentation, differentiation of what is and what is not drug allergy, clinically differentiating different types of hypersensitivity reactions 

Module attendance

  • Pre-contact reading demostrating how published evidence is implemented effectively in clinical practice
  • 2 full days of face to face teaching.
  • Self-directed learning.

Course dates

8-9 May

Assessment

This module is assessed by a short answer question exam (50%), a clinical case study or essay (40%) and case-based discussions (10%).

Academics involved in the delivery of this module 

  • Professor M Thirumala Krishna
  • Professor Adel Mansur
  • Dr Gareth Walters 
  • Dr Surendra Karanam 
  • Dr Omar Mohamed
  • Dr Lavanya Diwakar
  • Professor Nick Makwana
  • Dr Prasad Nagakumar

Entry requirements

BSc or equivalent professional degree in a relevant subject area

Please contact Professor M Thirumala Krishna m.t.krishna@bham.ac.uk for further information.

You can choose to study this course as either a microcredential or a non-credit CPD shortcourse.

Why choose a Postgraduate Microcredential short course?

  • Usually taken from exisiting modules within a Masters, they can be used as standalone credentials with some also counting as academic credits at postgraduate level
  • Add a postgraduate level qualification to your CV
  • Develop the specialist skills you need for your career goals
  • Alumni status with the University of Birmingham
  • Learners will have the same access to our student support and campus facilities as our students on full degree programmes.

Learners will be fully registered University of Birmingham students and will be entitled to normal University services (including library and digital resources).

Please note that once registered for the microcredential you cannot swap for the non-credit shortcourse version.

Apply for the Microcredential

Non-credit short course

The microcredential and the non-credit short course follow the same course structure, the difference between them both is with the non-credit short course you do not take the assessment at the end therefore you will not receive credits but will recieve a certificate of completion, this certificate cannot be converted to credits. 

Please note if you apply for the non-credit short course, you cannot swap to the microcredential version once registered. 

Apply for the non-credit CPD shortcourse