Poison center rotation for health science students

There is a conspicuous absence of formal clinical toxicology education in health science programs. Routinely, clinical toxicology is not a required or elective course, yet an estimated 5% of emergency department visits and hospital admission are toxicologically related. In response to this need, a didactic and practicum program in clinical toxicology was developed and implemented within the operating framework of a regional poison information center. This model is based on a four week rotation, and participants include 5th year pharmacy students, 4th year medical students, 2nd and 3rd year emergency medicine residents. The didactic portion includes formal lecture on a core curriculum and self-directed study of select current review articles. With one-on-one supervision by the faculty member, the student participates in initial poison information consults, formulating toxicity assessments, implementing therapy recommendations, and follow-up calls. Participants present two seminars on toxicology topics during the rotation. At the conclusion of the rotation the participant is given a written multiple-choice examination to assess their knowledge of a required core of information. The examination is then reviewed with the participant to strengthen any obvious deficits in their learning experience.