Program Overview
1st-year fellows
1st-year fellows are based at the Georgia Poison Center providing medical consultative services in person to 5 hospitals in the Atlanta region and to all hospitals in Georgia via phone consultation. They are trained in a variety of areas including bedside evaluation and care of poisoned patients, patients with substance use disorder, poison center activities and management, preventive toxicological practice, environmental and occupational outpatient consultation, and toxicological and epidemiological research.
2nd-year fellows
2nd-year fellows are based at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where they receive training in epidemiology, statistics, scientific writing, medical management of biologic, radiologic and chemical casualties and much more. They participate in domestic and international chemical—associated outbreak and public health investigations both in the field as well as on a consultative basis from Atlanta.
Training
The fellowship will involve both clinical activity and research. Our program's clinical emphasis is designed to help fellows’ practice skills grow and mature. Upon completion, fellows are on their way to becoming independent investigators.
The Emory/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/Georgia Poison Center Medical Toxicology Fellowship offers broad training, especially in areas now receiving increased emphasis on the Medical Toxicology board exam.
Our mentors come from a wide range of fields including:
- Addiction medicine
- Emergency medicine
- Emergency preparedness and response
- Environmental and occupational medicine
- Epidemiology
- Forensic toxicology
- Geographic information systems
- Health policy
- Laboratory medicine
- Pediatrics
- Pharmacology
- Preventive medicine
- Public health surveillance
- Radiation medicine
The Georgia Poison Center also has a PharmD Clinical Toxicology fellowship training program. There are fewer than 10 of these programs in the U.S., which provides our Medical Toxicology fellows with valuable multidisciplinary training opportunities.
As a result of this breadth of experience, the program's physicians and scientists in Medical Toxicology offer fellows uniquely well-rounded training in a variety of areas:
- Bedside evaluation and care of poisoned patients
- Bedside evaluation and care of patients with substance use disorder
- Addiction medicine outpatient clinic
- Working with a diverse patient population in diverse clinical settings
- Poison center activities and statewide consultation
- Preventive toxicological practice
- Environmental and occupational outpatient consultation
- Environmental public health research
- Toxicant-related problems in international settings
- Toxicological and epidemiologic research
Fellows spend plenty of time dealing with poisoning but are also involved in field investigations of toxicological problems, wherever they may occur. The fellowship includes ample opportunity for travel, both international and domestic. Fellows can expect to take part in research trips during their tenure. Gaining experience means sometimes going to where the exposure happens.
Training Courses
Fellows complete multiple training courses during their fellowship, including:
- Advanced Hazmat Life Support
- Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
- Explosions and Blast Injuries
- Radiological Preparedness and Emergency Response
- Nuclear Plant Emergency Response
- Epidemiology in Action (offered through the Rollins School of Public Health)
- Research Boot Camp
- Scientific Writing
- PrOUD
Public Health Emergency Training
Fellows are extensively trained in numerous areas important for public health emergency response. The fellows have received training in:
- HAZWOPER
- HAZCAT
- REAC/TS
- Weapons of Mass Destruction Technical Emergency Response
They have hands-on experience in chemical and radiological decontamination, all levels of personal protective equipment including the proper use of a respirator, and use of detection equipment for chemical and radiological agents.