Fellow

Research Toxicology Fellowship Programs

There are three main toxicology fellowship "styles," though most programs are a mix. Make sure to consider programs that meet your needs and interests. Programs may have percentages from more than one style listed below.

• Poison Center-Based: generally calls for the state or regional poison center are filtered to front line specialists in poison information (SPIs). These are typically pharmacists, nurses, or physicians who then forward unique or challenging cases to an on-call toxicology physician. The day's cases are then presented and discussed the next morning at rounds with the teaching team.
• Consult-Based: similar to other consult services with more focus on the bedside experience, though may be filtered through the Poison Center. Often limited to certain hospitals within a confined geographic area (typically at academic centers).
• Inpatient Service-Based: not quite as common as the first two styles of fellowship. The focus is on fully managing an inpatient toxicology service. Unlike the other two styles, this type of fellowship can make doing emergency medicine (EM) shifts more difficult.

Complete Your Fellowship Application

Make sure to have a mentor review your application and provide feedback. These applications are typically submitted in June or July.

• Toxicology is a formal match through NRMP, though there is no formal application system like ERAS.
• Make sure to create an account with NRMP, or find your old account from residency applications, in late summer so programs can rank you immediately after you interview with them.
• While each program will outline what is needed on their website, they will typically request three letters of recommendation, your CV, and a personal statement.
• Seek guidance from mentors and recent residency graduates who may have gone through the interview process.

Interviews

Fellowship interviews are somewhat similar to residency interviews in terms of conversation and questions. The timeline is typically August to October for interviewing and ranking. Make sure to come with questions about the program, like:

• What is each day like?
• What is the role of the fellow on the toxicology service?
• What projects are fellows currently working on?
• How often is call taken? What does a call day (or night) look like?
• Is there opportunity to do shifts as an emergency department attending?
• How are consults (day and overnight) managed?
• What have recent graduates gone on to do?
• Are there differences between the first and second years?

The Match

Your rank list is usually due in early November and the results come back about two weeks later. There has been increasing interest in toxicology fellowship - in 2023, there were zero unfilled toxicology fellow positions. You can visit the NRMP website for specific deadlines and match statistics.