For patients experiencing allergy issues, finding relief may not be as simple as picking up an over-the-counter medication. But with the right guidance from a physician, an effective solution can be just as attainable.
Physicians specializing in the field of Allergy and Immunology are trained to help patients find relief that is tailored to their specific needs and lifestyles. This highly individualized approach to health care is one of the reasons UTMB’s newest allergist, Sarah Pham, MD, was drawn to the specialty.
“There's always something really interesting to learn or some nuance with each of the diseases we see,” Dr. Pham says. “So every patient is not going to be the same.”
Dr. Pham joined UTMB this summer in the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Allergy and Immunology and the Department of Pediatrics, seeing pediatric and adult patients for the full spectrum of allergic and immunologic diseases, such as asthma, food allergies, drug allergies, chronic hives, angioedema (which causes swelling in various parts of the body), as well as immunodeficiencies.
She completed her medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR, where she also completed her pediatrics internship and residency. She pursued fellowship training in allergy and immunology at the University of Southern California/LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, completing her training in 2021.
Before choosing allergy as her specialty, Dr. Pham was interested in pediatrics and initially considered a career as a general pediatrician. She says she loved the interactions with patients and their families, as well as the variety of conditions she had the opportunity to treat.
Once she became immersed in her allergy training, however, she found much of the same gratification in helping both pediatric and adult patients with their needs.
Treatment of patients is never cut and dry, she says, and the best treatment for a particular patient is usually the one that works best with their lifestyle.
“There's a lot of room for coordination and shared decision-making with the patients and the family within our specialty, because one patient and one family may want to approach their condition one way because of their particular preferences and their lifestyle, whereas another patient family might choose to approach it in a completely different way,” she says.
She has seen that many patients with allergy issues assume they will need allergy shots. Shots can be helpful for some, she says, but that is not always the case.
“Sometimes it's just optimization of their medications, figuring out what they're allergic to through testing, and then implementing environmental measures. This can actually provide a lot of relief for some patients,” Dr. Pham says.
She looks forward to working with colleagues across specialties to help patients manage their health. She encourages primary care to send a referral for any patient who has concerns with allergies or their immune systems – for example, immunodeficiencies.
 | Sarah Pham, MD, sees patients at the UTMB Health Allergy and Immunology Clinics at the PCP in Galveston and Town Center in League City, as well as the Pediatric Allergy/Immunology Clinic at Bay Colony. Learn more about services in the Division of Allergy and Immunology. |