Abstract
Introduction
Medical toxicology is a small but growing specialty. To ensure that the specialty continues to grow and attract strong candidates, it is important to understand what influences physicians to pursue medical toxicology training. This would allow for targeted interventions to recruit strong candidates to the field.
Methods
A cross-sectional survey was sent via email to current medical toxicology fellows and to medical toxicologists who completed fellowship in the last 5 years. ACMT listservs were utilized to target recipients. The survey was created through an iterative writing process among the study authors. Responses to the survey were recorded in REDCap. Descriptive statistics were obtained and analyzed.
Results
A total of 126 participants responded to the survey request (46 fellows and 80 recent graduates). Most were primarily trained in emergency medicine. Interest in medical toxicology usually started during residency when exposure to the field was highest. Most respondents cite a mentor as a primary influence in pursuing medical toxicology training.
Conclusions
Among current fellows and recent graduates of medical toxicology, having a mentor in the field of medical toxicology, having exposure to medical toxicology during residency, and participating in a clinical rotation in medical toxicology were common shared experiences that led to the decision to subspecialize in the field. These results may guide targeted intervention to continue to recruit strong candidates to medical toxicology.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13181-023-00965-z/MediaObjects/13181_2023_965_Fig1_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13181-023-00965-z/MediaObjects/13181_2023_965_Fig2_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13181-023-00965-z/MediaObjects/13181_2023_965_Fig3_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13181-023-00965-z/MediaObjects/13181_2023_965_Fig4_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs13181-023-00965-z/MediaObjects/13181_2023_965_Fig5_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Board of Medical Specialties. Board certification report, 2020-2021. American Board of Medical Specialties, Chicago, IL. 2021. https://www.abms.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/ABMS-Board-Certification-Report-2020-2021.pdf. Accessed 18 January 2023.
Fialkoff SB, Wax P, Nelson N. Board certification trends in medical toxicology. 2022 ACMT annual scientific meeting abstracts – Virtual. J Med Toxicol. 2022;18(2):75–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-022-00888-1.
Pizon AF, Kao L, Mycyk MB, Wax PM. Demand for medical toxicology fellowship training is at an all-time high. J Med Toxicol. 2022;19(1):1–3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s/13181-022-00920-4.
National Resident Matching Program (2022) Match results statistics: Emergency medicine – 2022, overall statistics, appointment year 2023. National Resident Matching Program, Washington, DC. https://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Emergency-Medicine-MRS-Report.pdf. Accessed 17 January 2023.
Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG. Research electronic data capture (REDCap) – A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. J Biomed Inform. 2009;42(2):377–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2008.08.010.
Harris PA, Taylor R, Minor BL, Elliott V, Fernandez M, O’Neal L, McLeod L, Delacqua G, Delacqua F, Kirby J, Duda SN. REDCap Consortium, The REDCap consortium: Building an international community of software partners. J Biomed Inform. 2019;95:103208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103208.
Beeson MS, Ankel F, Bhat R, et al. The 2019 model of the clinical practice of emergency medicine. J Emerg Med. 2020;59(1):96–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jemermed.2020.03.018.
Funding
No sources of funding for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article/presentation are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Defense Health Agency, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.
Additional information
Supervising Editor: Trevonne M. Thompson
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Data in this study were presented at the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego, CA, April 2023.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Keenan, M., Titelbaum, N., Suen, K. et al. Factors Affecting the Choice to Specialize in Medical Toxicology. J. Med. Toxicol. 19, 389–397 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-023-00965-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13181-023-00965-z