advice needed/wanted on choosing to study immunology

You need to get in the lab and read. There is no way to know your passionate about immunology without these experiences- and if your not passionate then you will not survive grad school. I would read Janeways Immunobiology and try to find an area your interested. Then I would email faculty which match your interests and see if they have any positions open.

This was posted a few weeks ago but hopefully some advice may still be helpful. My advice is based entirely on programs within the United States.

Most of the internships I am aware of are post-bac style training programs that have a limit for how long it has been since you graduated, typically under 2 years. As a result, you will probably want to focus on trying to find a tech position in an immunology based or, at least, a basic (not too specialized in another field!) cellular biology laboratory. One training program I know of that would take a master's student would be the NIH Technical Intramural Research Training Award. I would check this out particularly if you are not opposed to moving. This is not a "taste" type program, this is a hardcore commitment that will help but requires a bit of a time sacrifice.

While I believe a passion for the field would be nice, I don't think it's as much of a requirement for "surviving." That totally depends on the individual student and what incentives they require for themselves. What will be required is lab bench work (ideally in immunology), and fantastic writing skills. You will need to convince an interview and admissions committee that, despite your masters focus in PH and previous publications, you actually would be interested in bench work and immunology/bacteriology.

At the moment, unfortunately, this is an uphill battle for you. Think about what you need to add to your profile to make you seem like a good safe bet for their program that puts you within the top 5 or so people applying to their program for any given year.

As a current CLS student taking an immunology course I have to agree with what is being said. You must enjoy bench work and be passionate about learning. For me personally the challenge has been memorizing CD markers and compliment pathways. There's a whole lot that goes into this field of study and you need to be prepared to read, read, and read some more. As was said before janeway is a great resource and I also have a serology text (sorry I don't remember the name) that has been incredibly helpful. What ever choice you make I wish you the best of luck and hope all works out in your favor. It's a great field to get into, you just got to love it!

When was the last time you did anything in a lab? You could try to do a post-bac type program. Sometimes they'll pay you to do it, especially if you're an under-represented minority.

Can you see yourself doing a lot of bench work? Immunological techniques involve a fair about of data analysis too