Toxicology training in US and Canadian medical schools

Abstract

The objective was to determine the extent of toxicology training in US and Canadian Medical Schools. The authors took a phone survey of the medical schools in the United States and Canada. Questions asked included whether school had a required toxicology course, in what context toxicology was taught, whether basic poison management was taught, and whether a doctoral toxicologist was on staff. Quantitation of hours of toxicology instruction and toxicology-related questions was also sought. Of the 142 medical schools in the United States and Canada, 123 schools were contacted (85.4%); 107 of these schools were US schools while 16 were Canadian medical schools. One hundred two schools (82.8%) stated that toxicology was taught in pharmacology or pathology courses, while only six schools (4.9%) had separate formal toxicology courses. An average of 5.04 hours (±4.6 hours) of toxicology was taught in US courses, while the Canadian average was 6.04 hours (±5.2 hours). Basic poison management was taught in 75 of the schools (61%), while a toxicologist (holding either an MD or PhD degree) was on staff in 56 of the 110 schools responding to this question (51%). While no relationship existed between having a toxicologist on staff and whether poison management was taught in US schools, a significant relationship was noted in Canadian schools ( P < .05). The authors conclude that toxicology as a separate discipline (and poison management in particular) is not routinely taught in medical school.