Medical Toxicology Fellowship

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU)

The head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology/Medical Toxicology USU is jointly appointed within the Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology and teaches in both departments. Ongoing collaborative research and teaching opportunities will be available to fellows during the 2 months per year they will spend at USU. Fellows will audit the Medical Pharmacology Course in the Medical School to review this material.

The Clinical Research Unit in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Medical Toxicology, USU, holds a monthly conference covering a variety of topics related to clinical research, such as ethics, informed consent, assessment of adverse study events, assignment of causality, Good Clinical Practices and practical research management issues. The USU faculty in Clinical Pharmacology/Medical Toxicology will lead the discussion and coordinate the presentation of material to the group.

The USU Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology Seminar Series is held weekly throughout the academic year. Fellows will attend all seminars while on this rotation and, if their research project involves a USU project, they will present their research to the USU faculty before the conclusion of their program.  They will also learn pharmacokinetics from a 6-hour on-site conference designed for the visiting Fellows.

Clinical rounds on the Clinical Pharmacology Research Unit occur weekly and include physicians, nurses and fellows in training. During these rounds, protocol related issues, adverse events, assignment of causality of adverse events and practical research protocol management issues are discussed. Fellows will take an active role in presentation of adverse events during these sessions.

Daily rounds occur on inpatients followed by the Consultation Service at USU. When patients are on-service, fellows will round on patients before and with the attending physician to discuss management issues and provide teaching to the house staff and medical students involved in the care of the patient.

Experimental design and statistical analysis are taught by attendance in two courses on study design offered by NIH/Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences. These principles are reinforced at the Research Meeting and during Journal Club and other conferences. They are discussed in-depth during the preparation of research proposals for submission to the IRB, IACUC and grant funding agencies as well as during data analysis and presentation/publication.

Laboratory techniques, both research and analytical will be taught during interactions with the toxicology laboratory during the Fellows’ experience at USU.  They will learn how GC-MS, liquid chromatography and simple immunoassay toxicology screens are run. Laboratory techniques will also be reviewed when needed for research or patient care (during rounds).