Jacques Gayraud, M.D.


Polyclinique de l’Ormeau
Pneumo - Allergologie
12 Chemin de l’Ormeau
65000 – Tarbes (France)

Tel : + 33 5 62936696
Fax : + 33 5 62513877
e.mail : j.gayraud@orange.fr









1.  Describe your experience within the Academy so far.

Since I had finished my Pneumo – Allergology training (in 1884), I was convinced that being a European practitioner was a necessity. I started participating in the EAACI congresses (Berlin 1989, Paris1992) and I became an EAACI member in 1992.
In Madrid, 1995, Prof. Claude Molina, EAACI past president, was at this time the Editorial & Audio Visual Committee chairman. When he ended his mandate, he proposed me to become the Editorial & Audio Visual Committee secretary, Prof. Jeana Rodica Radu being the new chairwoman. We began to work on and to build “Allergospace”, the first CME computerized Allergology programme. This exciting adventure involved other colleagues. Among the most active were Claude Molina, Franz Marrache, Jose Manuel Zubeldia, John Galatas …).
When the Academy decided to renew its organization the Editorial Audio Visual Committee was canceled and Walter Canonica asked me to participate in the new CME Accreditation Council, today the CME Accreditation Committee.
In the early 90s the EAACI Specialty Committee joined EAACI, Allergy UEMS section & Board and CEFCAP (European Committee of Education for Practicing Allergologists created by Franz Marrache in 1990 and in which I assumed the secretary post). Later I will be appointed as the Specialty Committee web master.
Today as UEMS Allergology section secretary I have an interesting role to play in the building of the very new EBAACI (European Board of Accreditation in Allergology & Clinical Immunology) to be born at the beginning of 2011.

2.  What are your plans/goals for the future?

I am a pneumo-allergologist. In my country, in France, Allergology is not yet a specialty. We can say that it is a “sub specialty”. When I achieved my universitary diploma of Allergology – Clinical Immunology in Toulouse (1980-1981), I was not allowed to practice Allergology. So I had to go on with an organ specialty. I chose Pulmonology.
I opened my private practice in Tarbes in 1986 integrating a 4 pulmonologist service in a private hospital. We are now 5 and 2 of us trained in Allergology. We manage an Allergology Unit (ambulatory and hospitalization one). Our activity is about 2500 Skin/challenge tests a year and 2000 new patients a year with a total of 40 000 patient files.
My main project and goal is to insure the surviving of such a unit, able to treat all people without difference, as the Health System is moving and administrative rules changing.

3.  Could you provide us with useful tips for junior allergists and scientists?

In my experience of non universitary physician, I am convinced that it is possible to build a real very interesting professional programme. What is needed is the energy of the willingness. So my main advice to the juniors allergologists is :“keep passionate, even a bit utopist”. I have been involved in clinical research, I have met the most famous allergologists in the world. I have had the opportunity to participate in advance guard programmes (therapeutic education, Allergology net works …) because I believed in people, I believed in patients, I believed in Allergolgy and we wanted to achieve our goals.
Allergology is a wonderful specialty as it covers huge fields. Through your career, you must meet one day some thing new, may be unknown … that day go ahead, don’t refuse the adventure.

4.  Do you think that the global climate change has affected people with allergies?

Sure! The climate and the whole life style nowadays affect people with allergies. Being an allergist indicates to be an observer, to think in the world evolution, its good and bad consequences. We have to search or to look for new allergies as people are sentries for allergies. Pollen exposure is moving, pollens themselves are changing because of the climate. Co actors of the allergic reaction take a more important part in our environment… obviously allergies will increase.

5.  Are there enough motives for medical research? Does that vary from one European country to another?

Yes, the motivation is here, but the means are sometimes missing too. I don’t think that there are big differences from one country to an other in term of research in Europe. Here again is your will to set up a study or a research. More over we have to convince our governments that allergy is really the 3rd Public Health problem in Europe. Sometimes we wonder if they have understood the severity of the allergy increasing.
In this way Allergology must become a full specialty all over Europe. This recognition will participate in promoting research in Allergology.
In an other hand the new technologies allow us to organize European programmes, European net works. This is an important role the EAACI plays and must continue. When several (many) people are working all together they produce much more than staying alone and researching alone.

6.  What is your opinion on CME through EAACI? Would you like more CME credits in the events of the academy?

EAACI has played an important role in the CME field in Allergology. As member of the EAACI CME Accreditation Committee and the Allergology UEMS section I have an interesting seat. In particular I have the privilege to propose the amount of CME credit points when CME events are asked for accreditation.
What I can say is that EAACI is the first European structure to provide CME events and I would like to underline the quality of the EAACI CME events submitted.
The need is to connect CME and daily practice.
My wish is to improve that. We can see the promotion of practical session in the Summer schools or Allergy schools (how to perform skin testing, how to perform desensitization …). That a good thing. It’s why we had set up CEFCAP, in order to cancel the gap between science and practice. EAACI is achieving the goal… Each time CME is directly connected to our daily practice it ‘s equal gold.

EAACI is the Academy of all the European Allergologists. Work in, for and  with her, she will give you back more than you hope.