Curriculum Overview

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Scott Wiley, RN, CSPI consults with Fellow Dr. Tracey Reilly about a call to the Blue Ridge Poison CenterTracy Reilly

The fellowship’s first year is devoted to developing clinical skills in medical toxicology.  The fellow is responsible for the clinical consultation service and medical back-up for the Blue Ridge Poison Center. Occupational/environmental exposures are evaluated in an outpatient clinic. Also, the fellow is the direct supervisor of residents rotating from other house staff services. 

The first year concentrates on reading and attending didactics in order to gain knowledge of the basic principles of acute care toxicology, occupational/environmental, pharmacology, mechanisms of toxicity and practical aspects of basic sciences.  Time is spent exploring areas of special interest and formulating the potential research questions that will be the focus of the second year.

Second year activities are flexible, so that the fellow can focus on special interests or research activities.  The second year still provides experiences to improve clinical skills but an increased emphasis is placed on educational techniques (writing and speaking) and research methodology.  Therefore, the clinical responsibilities are negotiable and may be decreased depending on the type of projects the fellow chooses.  Directed readings and didactics are more focused on research methodology, critical appraisal of the literature, in-depth understanding of mechanisms, faculty development skills, and administrative skills for medical direction of poison centers and toxicology treatment centers.

Curriculum Details

Clinical Skills
Acute care toxicology
   Management of poisoning by drugs of abuse
   Management of poisoning by pharmaceuticals
   Management of poisoning by household products
   Management of poisoning by industrial/agricultural products
   Management of poisoning by plants/mushrooms/food contamination
   Management of poisoning by envenomations
   Management of acute withdrawal syndromes
Critical Care for Acute Poisoning
Occupational toxicology and Environmental toxicology
   Injury prevention/poison prevention
   Risk communication
Emergency Response to Hazardous Materials and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Hyperbaric medicine

Basic Sciences
Mechanisms of toxicity
   Biochemistry
   Pathophysiology
   Pharmacology
   Toxicokinetics
   Adverse Drug Events/Drug interactions
   Teratogens/carcinogens
Analytical Toxicology Laboratory
Forensic toxicology

Research
Research methodology
Evidence-based medicine: Applying research evidence in clinical practice
Statistics

Administrative Skills
Poison Center operations
Regional Toxicology Treatment Center Operations

Academic Faculty Development Skills
Communications and teaching
    Speaking and writing skills
    Teaching/presenting data with graphics and illustration
    Computers/Informatics
Leadership and Mentoring
Time Management
Business Management
Grantmanship

For more information contact:

Mark A. Kirk, MD
Medical Toxicology Fellowship Director
Division of Medical Toxicology
Department of Emergency Medicine
Box 800699
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA  22908-0699

Phone: 434-924-0347
FAX: 434-971-8657
Email: mak4z@virginia.edu