Education Section
Toxicology Education
Interested applicants should contact
S. Eliza Halcomb, MD
Section Chief & Fellowship Director of Medical Toxicology
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine
TOXICOLOGY is a rapidly growing part of the division and is committed to providing the most up-to-date training in the management of poisoning and overdoses. We currently have five faculty members who participate in both bench and bedside research. They provide a vital consulting service to the medical center and the Missouri Regional Poison Center. Our residency training consists of a one-month program in clinical toxicology. While on this rotation, residents are available for bedside consults for all toxicological emergencies and staff each patient with the on-call attending. Residents also participate in the toxicology scholar track which meets monthly. During this time, the toxicology faculty discusses emerging toxicological issues, new concepts, and noteworthy toxicological stories in the news. Additionally, the section’s goal is to improve the residents’ exposure to interesting toxicology cases. Toward that end, toxicology has forged alliances in the community to heighten awareness of the toxicology service.
Further collaboration occurs at the Regional Poison Control Center where residents take calls weekly while on the Toxicology rotation. Additionally, Washington University has been designated by the St. Louis Zoo as the site for the management of exotic snakebites, and we have an ongoing collaboration with Monsanto and several ethnobotanists at the Missouri Botanical Garden. We also have an occupational medicine clinic and are currently establishing an outpatient toxicology clinic.
The Fellowship
Given the number of residents who have expressed an interest in the field, we have developed an ACGME approved fellowship that accepts 2 fellows annually. The two-year curriculum includes coverage of the entire core topics laid out in Annals of Emergency Medicine. Fellows will have a direct working relationship with both Washington University facilities, Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's Hospitals, as well as the Missouri Regional Poison Control Center. There will be daily bedside rounds of all in-house patients with the residents and medical students, as well as phone call coverage and follow-up for regional hospitals that call their cases into the poison center. The fellowship will involve several weekly didactic sessions, including Morning Rounds, Toxicology Rounds, Journal Club, and Classic Journal Club. Each of these will be guided by the fellow or attending on-call and will be attended by medical students and residents on the rotation. Fellows will also participate in the American College of Medical Toxicology monthly National Case Conference and monthly Journal Club. Additionally, each fellow will be responsible for presenting a Grand Rounds annually for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and have the opportunity to lecture to other departments in the hospital. Fellows are expected and encouraged to do either bench or clinical research and publish their findings. They will also have the opportunity to attend, as well as to present abstracts and posters, at national meetings. Trips to the national conferences will be funded if the fellow has accepted research.
We generally accept fellows who have completed an EM, pediatrics or occupational medicine residency but all residents are welcome to apply. This is a two year program and pay starts at either the PGY4 or 5 level depending upon the degree of training. Interested applicants should send Dr. S. Eliza Halcomb an updated CV, three letters of recommendation (including one from their program director), and a personal statement describing why they are interested in medical toxicology.
Interested applicants should contact halcombs@wusm.wustl.edu
