Medical Toxicology Fellowship

The National Capital Poison Center (NCPC) is the home site for Medical Toxicology Fellows. Fellows will spend 9 months in the first year and 10 months in the second year based at NCPC.  Dr. Clancy is the program director for the fellowship and is responsible for supervising Fellows.

NCPC serves the 4.3 million residents of the Washington, DC metropolitan area, including the District of Columbia, the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s, the Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William, and the Virginia incorporated cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park. There are more than forty acute care hospitals in the service area, ranging from smaller suburban hospitals to major referral centers and several military hospitals. There are also mental health facilities, including hospitals, clinics, and community services organizations; many free-standing emergency centers; and several nurse advice lines. As Washington, DC is the seat of government, NCPC is regularly consulted by Congressional staff, U.S. government agencies and the U.S. military for poison-related issues both here and overseas.

NCPC professional staff are all appropriately certified: Medical Toxicology for the Executive and Medical Director (Toby Litovitz) and Associate Medical Director (Cathleen Clancy); Clinical Toxicology for the Toxicologist/Educator (Rose Ann Soloway). The remaining professional staff are all certified as Specialists in Poison Information (CSPI) by the American Association of Poison Control Centers. There are currently 12 CSPIs; these staff members have an average of 15.3 years experience in poison centers.  In addition, the Center's staff includes a Development Director (Jessica Youniss) and administrative, public education and network support.

NCPC is located in an office building convenient to the other three participating institutions and to all other medical and health professional schools in the service area. There is on-site and street parking for employees and visitors.

The office suite includes the Poison Center operations area and offices for the Executive Director, Associate Medical Director, Clinical Toxicologist/Educator, Development Director and Fellows. In addition, there is a reception area, secure server room, conference room, copier room, storage room and kitchen. All space is contiguous.

Fellows will be integrally involved with poison center operations; in fact, their poison center time will be spent physically in or immediately adjacent to the poison center operations area. They will interact regularly and closely with all poison center staff on a variety of issues: case consultation; the relationship between medical management issues and poison center operations; the role of the poison center in the community; interdisciplinary practice in the poison center and other health care settings; and poison prevention throughout the life cycle.

All health professional poison center callers caring for high-acuity patients will be encouraged to consult with the fellow on call. Such telephone consultations will take place as a three-way conference call with the Specialist in Poison Information. The Fellow will then perform all follow-up calls, again as conference calls with the Specialist in Poison Information.  Other calls of interest may be reviewed with second year fellows, Specialists in Poison Information, and/or the fellowship director either in real-time or at case conference.

Description of conferences at NCPC

Schedule of conferences at NCPC