Medical Director, The Ontario Poison Centre

Effective immediately a three-year contract position (.6 FTE) is available for a Medical Director, the Ontario Poison Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), 555 University Ave., Toronto, ON which is an academic health science centre dedicated to the care of children; a fully affiliated hospital with the University of Toronto.

The Ontario Poison Centre
The Ontario Poison Centre (OPC) is the provincial poison centre for the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba in Canada, also serving the Health Care Providers of the territory of Nunavut. As such, telephone toxicology consultations come from geographic area of 3.724 million km2 and we serve a population of ~ 16 million people. Although the Poison Centre is physically located in the Hospital for Sick Children in downtown Toronto, annual exposure calls number approximately 66,000, 45% regarding children under age 5 and 50% regarding adults.

The Ontario Poison Centre is a full member of the Canadian Association of Poison Centres & Clinical Toxicology (CAPCCT) and an affiliate member of the America’s Poison Centres (APC) (previously known as the American Association of Poison Control Centres AAPCC). As such, the Ontario Poison Centre attempts to meet all accreditation standards of the APC. The Centre is staffed with a unique intradisciplinary team including 40 Specialists in Poison Information, both nurses & pharmacists, support & managerial staff, and 10 Toxicologists who share on call responsibility. Centre funding is provided from the global budget for the Hospital for Sick Children as well as contracts from other jurisdictions. The Medical Director of the Ontario Poison Centre is directly responsible to the Division Head of Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology at the Hospital for Sick Children (Dr Tamorah Lewis), and indirectly to the Division Chief in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, both of whom are extremely supportive.

Medical Director Responsibilities
The successful candidate will be responsible for supporting the Specialists in Poison Information daily regarding process, providing direct clinical care as telephone or bedside consultations when on call, and other clinical matters. The successful candidate, in collaboration with the other Toxicologists, will write and/or review clinical protocols and Patient Care Resources ensuring up-to-date evidence-based care for use by the Specialists. The successful candidate liaises with multiple partners to identify community resources for best care of the poisoned patient including (but not limited to) other Canadian & American poison centres, mycologists, botanists, herpetologists, pharmacists, laboratory toxicologists, transport & occupational medicine, public health, injury prevention, 811 Telehealth. The successful candidate will be asked to interact with media and government at local, provincial & federal levels around toxicology issues.

The successful candidate will be responsible for quality of care delivered at the Centre. They, in collaboration with other staff, provide education sessions to the Specialists at orientation and as part of ongoing learning. The successful candidate will organize formal Morbidity & Mortality rounds, sits on Quality Council, perform individual case and chart reviews of the Specialists and Toxicologists and will be responsible for following up on any care complaints. The successful candidate will support any Divisional Quality Practice initiatives at the Hospital for Sick Children

The successful candidate will deliver formal education sessions to undergraduate medicine and pharmacy students, to postgraduate trainees in Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and other disciplines. The Ontario Poison Centre is the sole site for trainee elective opportunities in Toxicology in the Province. The successful candidate will provide direct supervision of trainees during these electives and educational sessions regularly. The Ontario Poison Centre is also the Toxicology training site for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Subspecialty in Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. The successful candidate will provide one-on-one clinical supervision, mentorship and educational opportunities to these senior learners as well as sit on the local Subspecialty Committee responsible to the Program Director for the educational component of the rotation. The successful candidate will be involved in the formal evaluations, and potentially references, for these learners.

For approximately 20 years, the Ontario Poison Centre has used a call management system known as Visual Dotlab Enterprise. This electronic system is searchable and provides a unique opportunity for the successful candidate in collaboration with other toxicologists and Specialists, to do cohort studies and retrospective database research. In addition, currently, the federal government supports an epidemiologist at each provincial Poison Centre. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing data (at times) to government and media and/or approving any statistics provided to these partners.

Applicant Requirements and Logistic Details to Apply
The successful candidate should have current Subspecialty qualifications and at least 5 years of experience in Medical Toxicology through the American Board of Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Medicine, or Occupational Health and/or their Subspecialty in Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology. Ideally the successful candidate would have at least 5 years of leadership / management experience program within their core specialty or in Medical Toxicology.

The successful candidate must be eligible for an academic appointment at the University of Toronto. Rank and salary ($229,000 -$300,000 per annum; pro-rated to FTE of .6 equivalent to $137,400 -$180,000 per annum), will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. Salary may increase depending on FTE increment. Benefits will include medical and dental.

All candidates must be able to function proficiency in English, hold an MD, MBBS or equivalent thereto and be certified or eligible for certification by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada or have comparable qualifications. Candidates must hold or be eligible for licensure with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

Interested individuals should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, and the names and addresses of three referees no later than February 28th, 2023, to the attention of Dr. Tamorah Lewis, Division Head, Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Paediatrics, C/O Linda Jankovski, Business Operations Manager, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5G 1X8. Email: linda.jankovski@sickkids.ca This position will remain open until filled.

Visit our Web site for additional information regarding the Department of Paediatrics (https://www.sickkids.ca/en/care-services/clinical-departments/paediatrics/) and see https://www.ontariopoisoncentre.ca/ for more information about the OPC.

SickKids is strongly committed to equity, diversity and inclusion within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons, women, Indigenous persons, persons with disabilities as indicated through OHRC and AODA, LGBTQ+ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Only those applicants selected for the interview will be contacted.