Solving complex cases: Advancing patient care through dual specialties

Dr. Emily Austin has built a career at the intersection of emergency medicine and medical toxicology, combining rapid decision-making with her expertise in toxic exposures.

An assistant professor and clinician teacher in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto (U of T), Dr. Austin completed her training in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology at U of T. She now works as an emergency medicine physician at St. Michael's Hospital and serves as Medical Director at the Ontario Poison Centre (OPC).

During medical school, Dr. Austin connected with mentors in emergency medicine whose careers reflected the path she hoped to pursue, drawing her toward the specialty.

“Emergency medicine has a teamwork aspect to it, which is something I enjoy and value,” she says.

Her interest in clinical pharmacology & toxicology developed alongside her emergency medicine training. Currently the only accredited residency pathway for specialist training and certification in medical toxicology in Canada, the field aligned closely with her academic interests.

“The thing I love about medical toxicology and clinical pharmacology is how it brings together multiple backgrounds and specialties to help solve a problem,” she says.

Today, Dr. Austin sees strong overlap between her two specialties, which informs her day-to-day work.

“In a lot of medical toxicology cases, you don’t know what a patient has been exposed to, so we approach it similarly to how emergency medicine would approach an undifferentiated patient,” she explains. “The other part is that there’s a lot of resuscitation in medical toxicology as people can be quite sick, and those are skills we learn from emergency medicine, so working in both fields helps me feel more confident.”

In addition to her clinical work at St. Michael’s Hospital, Dr. Austin is a toxicologist and Medical Director at the OPC, a provincially funded organization operated by The Hospital for Sick Children that supports healthcare providers and the public with questions related to poisonings across Ontario. In this role, she provides clinical recommendations for patients who have experienced toxic exposures and collaborates with critical care physicians, emergency physicians, psychiatrists, internists, and nurses to guide treatment planning and clinical expectations.

“As a Medical Director, I also help lead and mobilize our team to achieve the collective goals we’ve set for the organization, supporting the execution of our strategic plans,” she says.

As a faculty member at U of T, Dr. Austin chose the clinician teacher track because it felt like a natural fit. Driven by her commitment to patient care and collaboration, she also loves helping learners break down complex problems into clear, understandable concepts.

“I find that the people I get to work with as a teacher are very bright and often come with a different lens to approach the case or problem, allowing me to learn a lot as well,” she says.

For those considering emergency medicine or clinical pharmacology & toxicology, Dr. Austin notes that both specialties offer opportunities to make an impact at the patient and system levels through research, quality improvement, and other initiatives.

“In my work, I’ve found really good people and if you can find people that you want to work with every day, that makes your job great,” she says.