Medical Toxicology Fellowship

Bedside Consultation Medical Toxicology Service

At SUNY Upstate, we have a bedside Medical Toxicology consult service that currently sees bedside consults at Upstate University Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital. Through this experience, fellows gain expertise in the toxicological physical exam and management of many common xenobiotic overdoses. Our consult service also sees complicated patients in our intensive care units to explore the toxicological differential in patients without confirmed exposures. All patients are seen during business hours by both a fellow and a board-eligible or board-certified Medical Toxicologist.

Poison Center Consultant Call

Medical Toxicology fellows participate in consultant call for the Upstate New York UNY) Poison Center, with supervision by an attending medical or clinical toxicologist. The UNY Poison Center has a broad catchment area covering 54 counties. This is a 24-hour service in which fellows gain experience with phone consultations with both patients at home as well as health care providers. We provide over-the-phone toxicology consults for hospitals across New York State, particularly for hospitals without bedside Toxicology services. Through this experience, our fellows are exposed to a diverse array of toxins - from household toxins, occupational toxins, poisonous plants, envenomations, and pharmaceutical agents. This experience prepares the fellows to work as a Poison Center Consultant in the future.

Additionally, our fellow offices are housed in the UNY Poison Center and fellows work closely with our Specialists in Poison Information, Clinical Directors and Medical Directors. Our fellows spend time answering the phones for the poison center hotline where they gain experience with managing patient exposures in both the home setting and initial healthcare setting.

Further information regarding the UNY Poison Center can be found here:

http://qath.ngskmc-eis.net/poison/

Addiction Medicine

SUNY Upstate has both a Medical Toxicology consult service as well as an Addiction Medicine consult service. Our fellows rotate through our Addiction Medicine consult service as well and gain experience with complex addiction patients. Our fellowship director, Dr. Ross Sullivan, is dual board-certified in Medical Toxicology as well as Addiction Medicine. Thus, we provide a unique educational experience for our fellows through bedside addiction consults as well as at an Addiction Medicine clinic.

Medical Toxicology and Occupational Toxicology Clinic

We have a weekly, in-person Medical Toxicology clinic on campus that is staffed by Medical Toxicology fellows and attending Medical Toxicologists. This allows for exposure to chronic occupational exposures and chronic poisoning. We also see many patients with concern for heavy metal poisoning.

Medical Toxicology Board Preparation

Our program is committed to preparing fellows for succeeding at the Medical Toxicology Board Examination which is held every two years for graduating fellows. Fellows are encouraged to attend the American College of Medical Toxicology’s board review course which is held biannually. Fellows will also receive individualized board preparation sessions from fellowship leadership on a biweekly basis. In addition, we have a weekly email-based curriculum to highlight historical toxins, occupational toxins, and important toxicological structures. We currently have a 100% first time pass rate for graduating fellows taking the medical toxicology board exam.

Teaching Opportunities

The UNY Poison Center hosts a toxicology rotation for medical students, pharmacy students, residents and fellows from SUNY Upstate and also outside institutions. As part of our toxicology fellowship, fellows are expected to participate in and lead teaching rounds with the rotators based on poison center cases and bedside consultations. This rotation also includes weekly simulations which provides the fellow with the opportunity to create new simulations and practice running a toxicology simulation for more rare toxins. Every Thursday, the fellow participates and eventually leads a case-based conference for our rotators.

Journal Club

We host a weekly journal club with our toxicology rotators which is fellow led, reviewing high yield articles from a broad range of journals, often including Clinical Toxicology and the Journal of Medical Toxicology. This inspires fellows to incorporate weekly journal review into their practice and generate research ideas. In addition, we hold out of hospital journal clubs with fellows and attendings to discuss controversial topics and historical literature. We collaborate with other regional toxicology fellowships to review literature published monthly in high impact toxicology journals.

Didactic Curriculum

Our didactic curriculum was revamped in 2023 and is a combination of textbook chapter review and primary literature review. Fellows meet with faculty on a weekly basis to review topics in toxicology, consisting of chapters from Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies, paired with landmark peer-reviewed articles. Our curriculum spans 18-months, thus fellows will cover high yield material more than once. To support our didactic curriculum, we also invite outside speakers to enhance certain topics such as Occupational Medicine. When possible, our fellows are encouraged to attend additional training in Radiation Medicine in Tennessee, and also visit the Cornell Poison Garden for practice in poison plant identification.

Research

Fellows are required to complete a scholarly project by the end of Fellowship and are encouraged to participate in research projects. We have administrative support for research and ample opportunities for academic writing and research mentorship. As a second-year fellow, the month of July is reserved for expanding upon research projects. Our faculty are very academically productive. A sampling of publications can be found on our poison center website here:

http://qath.ngskmc-eis.net/poison/professionals/research.php

• Fully funded fellowship, salary is according to PGY level and Institutional GME:
  • http://qath.ngskmc-eis.net/gme/residents/house-staff-salaries.php
• Office Space in the UNY Poison Center and Support Staff
• Textbooks including Goldfrank's Toxicologic Emergencies, Lange’s Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Casarett & Doull’s Toxicology: The Basic Science of Poisons, Baselt’s Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man, and Goldfrank’s Study Guide
• Financial support for Conference Travel
  • North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology Annual Meeting
  • American College of Medical Toxicology Annual Meeting
  • European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists Annual Meeting for Senior Fellow Presentation Opportunities
• Attendance at Radiation Emergency Assistance Center for REAC/TS Advanced Radiation Training
• Funding for medical societies memberships (ACEP, AACT, ACMT)

Ample opportunities for internal moonlighting at the attending moonlighting rate, which is encouraged if the fellow is in good standing

Fellowship Leadership

Ross Sullivan MD
Fellowship Program Director
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine, Medical Toxicology, and Addiction Medicine

Sarah Mahonski, MD
Assistant Fellowship Director
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Assistant Medical Director, UNY Poison Center
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine, and Medical Toxicology

Fellowship Core Faculty

Vincent Calleo, MD, FACEP, FAAP
Medical Director, UNY Poison Center
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology

Jeanna Marraffa, PharmD, MPH, DABAT, FAACT
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Assistant Clinical Director, UNY Poison Center
Board Certified in Pharmacy and Clinical Toxicology

Christine Stork, PharmD, MPH, DABAT, FAACT
Professor of Emergency Medicine
Clinical Director, UNY Poison Center
Board Certified in Pharmacy and Clinical Toxicology

Michael Keenan, MD
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine, Board Eligible in Medical Toxicology

Michael Hodgman, MD, FACMT, FAACT
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Board Certified in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology

Affiliated Poison Center Staff and Medical Toxicologists

As an integral part of the UNY Poison Center, our fellows interact with many administrative staff, specialists in poison information and affiliated medical and clinical toxicologists in the UNY Region. A full list can be found here:

http://qath.ngskmc-eis.net/poison/about/staff.php

 

Ahmed Alsakha, MBBS
Toxicology Fellow, 2022-2024
Medical School: King Faisal University-Dammam
EM Residency: McGill University

Conor Young, MD
Toxicology Fellow, 2023-2025
Medical School: SUNY Upstate Medical University
EM Residency: SUNY Upstate Medical University

Matthew Kolbeck, MD
Toxicology Fellow, 2023-2025
Medical School: Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
EM Residency: University of Rochester Medical Center

Akhil Vaid, MD
Combined Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Toxicology Fellow, 2022-2026
Medical School: University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Pediatric Residency: Stony Brook Children’s Hospital

Prospective applicants should be graduates of and board eligible in an accredited medical specialty. These include Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, Occupational Medicine and Internal Medicine.

Our Program is ACGME accredited and participates in ERAS. All applications need to be received through this program. For more information on submission and timeline, please visit:

http://students-residents.aamc.org/eras-tools-and-worksheets-fellowship-applicants/eras-2024-fellowship-application-timeline

 

For further information or further questions, please reach out to Cindie Sidari, Fellowship Coordinator by email: sidaric@ngskmc-eis.net or by mail at:

Upstate Medical University
Department of Emergency Medicine
Medical Toxicology Fellowship
Attn: Cindie Sidari, Fellowship Coordinator
550 East Genesee Street, Suite 103
Syracuse, NY 13202