The Department of Medical Toxicology operates one of the busiest in-patient medical toxicology services in the country providing care at both the Banner — University Medical Center Phoenix and at Phoenix Children's Hospital. The clinical service admits and consults on over 1100 patients annually. The scope of pathology is broad with patients presenting with a wide variety of conditions including overdoses, envenomations, occupational exposures, adverse drug reactions, and other toxicologic problems. The program was established in 1983, and is currently staffed by six board-certified medical toxicologists. The program has graduated over 40 fellows, who have gone on to a variety of positions including academic emergency medicine physicians and residency directors, directors or originators of medical toxicology services, toxicology fellowship directors, and poison center directors.
Eighty-five percent of admissions to the toxicology service are referred from other hospitals throughout the region. The department also operates an outpatient clinic, where independent medical examinations are performed and patients with occupational exposures are evaluated. The staff and fellows provide round-the-clock medical direction for the Banner Poison and Drug Information Center. In addition, the department maintains an extensive inventory of antidotes and has a division of laboratory services dedicated to help with clinical drug testing and research endeavors. A medical toxicologist is always available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for patient referrals and consultations. Physicians may call (602) 253-3334 to access the inpatient treatment services.
The Toxicology Fellowship was also established in 1983 and was one of the first to be accredited by the ACMGE in 2000. This 24-month fellowship in medical toxicology is open to physicians who have completed ACGME-accredited residency training in emergency medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, or other primary care residencies, and are board-certified or eligible to sit for the board examination(s) in their respective specialties. There are 4 fellows in the program at a time. Two fellows are chosen to enter the 24-month fellowship every academic year, which begins on July 1.
Facilities
Banner — University Medical Center Phoenix
The Medical Toxicology Fellowship Program is based in the Department of Medical Toxicology at the Banner — University Medical Center Phoenix, a tertiary care hospital in downtown Phoenix. The medical center is home to a Level I trauma center, solid organ and bone marrow transplant unit, a regional poison control center, and a state-of-the-art regional toxicology laboratory. Banner Good Samaritan houses 673 licensed patient care beds, with 108 designated as ICU beds. It is also the largest teaching hospital in Arizona, training more than 220 physicians annually. Graduate medical training is offered in internal medicine, surgery, family practice, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry, cardiology, gastroenterology and pulmonology. Although sponsored by Banner — University Medical Center Phoenix the fellowship is affiliated with the Maricopa Medical Center Emergency Medicine Residency Program.
Phoenix Children's Hospital

The Medical Toxicology Fellowship Program also provides both an admitting and consulting service at Phoenix Children's Hospital a recently renovated state-of-the-art institution with a total of 230 beds. It features a pediatric emergency department with two trauma bays, 23 treatment rooms (including a fast-track area), and an eight-bed observation unit; a pediatric intensive care unit with 40 patient rooms and a pediatric intensivist present 24 hours a day; a newborn intensive care nursery with 20 bassinets and room for up to 38 beds. A fully digital radiology department, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized tomography (CT), nuclear medicine, fluoroscopy, and ultrasound is also available.