NM Poison & Drug Information Center
MSC09 5080
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Emergency Line: 1-800-222-1222

Phone: (505) 272-4261
Fax: (505) 272-5892

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New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center

Student Education

Clinical Toxicology Review Sessions

Continuing education sessions for poison center staff, interested university faculty, and pharmacy students and emergency residents on rotation are designed to update staff and faculty on selected topics in clinical toxicology.

    Location: New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center - Conference Room
    Dates:
  • January 28, 2009
  • February 18, 2009
  • March 11, 2009
  • April 1 & 22, 2009
  • May 13, 2009
  • June 3 & 24, 2009
  • July 15, 2009
  • August 5 & 26, 2009
  • September 16, 2009
  • October 7 & 28, 2009
  • November 18, 2009
  • December 9 & 16, 2009
    Time: 7:00 a.m - 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Clinical Toxicology Clerkships

All emergency medicine residents at the University of New Mexico complete at least one four-week clinical toxicology clerkship in the poison center during their residency training. The rotation emphasizes the continuum of poisoning care - often beginning with a call to the regional poison center, and is comprised of bedside patient rounds, poison center paper rounds, clinical toxicology review session, and didactic/discussion sessions on all major poisoning topics. Since many of the UNM emergency medicine residents elect to practice in New Mexico hospitals, the poison center training has been an important tool in establishing strong relationship with emergency physicians throughout the State.

Clinical Toxicology Course

An elective two-credit course (Pharmacy 782) is offered to second and third professional year students at the College of Pharmacy fall semester starting in 2006. Students learn about the assessment, treatment and prevention of common poisonings.

Pharmacy Informatics and Research

A required 3-credit course for second professional year pharmacy students. This course is an examination of the structure of biomedical literature and research with emphasis on the recognition, evaluation, and application of different study types and the data they produce.

Drug Information Clerkship

A four-week clerkship for fourth professional year pharmacy students. The clerkship offers students an opportunity to field drug information inquiries through the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center's drug information service while strengthening literature evaluation skills.

Clinical Toxicology Fellowship

The New Mexico Poison & Drug Information Center offers a two-year fellowship in clinical toxicology. The goal of the fellowship is to increase new knowledge in clinical toxicology by providing motivated, pharmacy scholars with personalized post-doctoral research, administrative, and clinical training. The program is also designed to impart candidates with skills, knowledge and abilities necessary to function as a clinical toxicologist within a variety of clinical settings including a poison center, a clinical toxicology consulting service, an emergency, governmental agencies, or academia.

 

Fellowship Objectives

Participants in this fellowship will develop skills necessary to:

  • develop expertise in clinical toxicology
  • design, plan, implement, analyze and publish original research
  • obtain extramural funding
  • consult on poisoned patients in a variety of clinical settings
  • search and critically evaluate the medical literature
  • teach students, residents, faculty, staff and health care practitioners
  • present original research at scientific meetings

Primary fellowship activities will take place within the New Mexico Poison & Drug Information Center, a part of the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. Fellows will also have an opportunity to round on patients within the University of New Mexico Hospital and to collaborate with faculty and staff of the University of New Mexico Department of Emergency Medicine, the New Mexico Department of Health, the New Mexico Office of Medical Investigation and the University of New Mexico Center For Disaster Medicine.

Current Areas of Research

A major focus of research efforts within the New Mexico Poison & Drug Information Center is the development of evidence-based guidelines for the management of poisonings. Research efforts focus on:

  • characterization of poisoning manifestations and outcomes
  • the analysis of dose-response relationships using local and national poisoning data
  • identification of important determinants of guideline adherence within poison centers
  • effect of guidelines on patient car

Schedule of Activities

The clinical toxicology fellow will be considered to be part of the poison center clinical management team. They will have patient care, teaching, and research responsibilities. At a minimum, the fellow must understand the assessment, care and treatment of poisoned patients, the general operation of a poison center, poison center data collection practices, and common research techniques. Since the fellow will be asked to man the poison center phone, to see patients with the medical team, and to create a robust research program within a relatively short period of time they must strive to master a number of key skills as the fellowship progresses. The following serves as a rough guide for the fellow. It is not meant to be comprehensive and will vary depending on the background and interests of the fellow.

During the first month of the fellowship the fellow must:

  • complete all TESS coding modules
  • review all lectures in the Clinical Toxicology course
  • complete all HRRC research eligibility training modules
  • complete HIPPA training
  • complete PowerChart training
  • decide whether to enroll in management training

Within the first two months the fellow must:

  • identify at least two research projects
  • develop rough drafts of research protocols supporting identified projects
  • submit drafts for approval by the Director and Medical Director

Within the first three months the fellow must:

  • submit HRRC paperwork for research projects
  • complete a course in question writing for examinations

In addition to the activities listed above the fellow will also have an opportunity to participate in poison center strategic planning, UNM personnel management training, research training courses, and state-funded projects.

By April of the first year at least one project must be submitted to the North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology for presentation. This project should be submitted for publication by November of the first year. The other project should be submitted to NACCT in May of the second year and completed by June of the second year.

To facilitate project progress the Director and Medical Director will meet with the fellow on at least a monthly basis. During these research review meetings, fellow will review the status of all research projects. The Director and Medical Director will provide constructive input and assist the fellow when they encounter barriers.

Daily Obligations

The fellow has obligations in the areas of teaching, service and scholarly activity. Many of these activities should strengthen working knowledge in clinical toxicology and compliment the research work being performed throughout the fellowship. All of these responsibilities are as important as the research that is being performed. The fellow is expected to perform each with the same level of enthusiasm and professional integrity as the research that is being performed.

Teaching

  • Present one topic at each clinical toxicology review session. The fellow will alternate between journal review, quality assurance and clinical toxicology topic reviews at the Clinical Toxicology Review sessions.
  • Assist with resident teaching and PHARM 770 Poison Information clerkship teaching.
  • Give at least four lectures in PHARM 782 (Clinical Toxicology)

Service

  • Attend morning rounds with Drs. Seifert and Rogers
  • Assist on the poison center telephone (2-3 hours per day)
  • Participate in daily quality assurance activities

Research

  • Participate in monthly research review meetings
  • Assist with on-going grants and contracts

Evaluation

The fellow will be formally evaluated at the end of year one and year two. The Director and Medical Director will generate a progress report encapsulating progress made in accomplishing research objectives and in mastering daily teaching and service obligations.

Program Requirements

Applicants must:

  • possess a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from an accredited School or College of Pharmacy
  • be eligible for a license to practice pharmacy in the State of New Mexico

Program Benefits

Base Stipend: $37,500 for first year and $39,500 for second year

Fellows receive 15 days of annual leave, 15 sick leave days per year and are eligible for all University of New Mexico benefits except retirement. For additional information concerning UNM benefits please contact HSC Human Resources at (505) 272-6445, or consult the UNM Benefits website at http://www.unm.edu/~hr/benefits/. The New Mexico Poison & Drug Information Center will fund travel to the North American Clinical Toxicology Conference each year of the fellowship. There will also be a small amount of funding available to cover research expenses.

Application Process

The following documents are needed to complete an application for the fellowship:

  • letter of intent stating interests and goals
  • curriculum vitae
  • three letters of recommendation from healthcare professionals that can attest to your career goals, motivation and enthusiasm
  • an on-site interview is required

Application deadline is in February each year.

Please direct your application to:

Blaine (Jess) Benson, Pharm.D., DABAT
Clinical Toxicology Fellowship Director
Director, New Mexico Poison & Drug Information Center
Associate Professor, UNM College of Pharmacy
1 University of New Mexico
MSC09 5080
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Telephone: (505) 272-4261
Email: jebenson@salud.unm.edu
Fax: (505) 925-4077

Faculty

Blaine (Jess) Benson, Pharm.D., DABAT
Clinical Toxicology Fellowship Director
Director, New Mexico Poison & Drug Information Center
Associate Professor, UNM College of Pharmacy
1 University of New Mexico
MSC09 5080
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Telephone: (505) 272-4261
Email: jebenson@salud.unm.edu
Fax: (505) 925-4077

Steven Seifert, MD, FACMT, FACEP
Professor, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Medical Director, New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center
MSC09 5080
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Telephone: (505) 272-4261
Email: sseifert@salud.unm.edu
Fax: (505)272-5892