Varney, Shawn

Professor/Clinical and Medical Director- South Texas Poison Center

Personal Statement:

Dr. Shawn M. Varney is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology. In addition, he is the Medical Director of the South Texas Poison Center and is an Associate Professor of emergency medicine. He joined the UTHSCSA faculty full time in 2014.

Dr. Varney has over 19 years of experience treating emergency patients. He graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University and then graduated in the top 10% of his medical school class at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He completed his emergency medicine residency at the San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium in San Antonio, Texas in 2000. Dr. Varney is a retired Colonel in the U.S. Air Force with 25 years of service in the medical corps. During his Air Force career, Dr. Varney served in many leadership positions, provided clinical services, and deployed three times, most recently to Afghanistan. He has traveled the world teaching military and civilian providers about trauma and disaster medicine.

Dr. Varney completed an additional two years of specialty training in Medical Toxicology (the study of drugs, poisons, and overdoses). He conducts research studies on antidotes, poisonings, prescription pain medication use, and more. In addition to obtaining over $400K in grant funding for research, Dr. Varney also has published over 25 scientific manuscripts advancing the field of emergency medicine and toxicology. Furthermore, he is actively engaged in teaching and training medical students and residents. Dr. Varney and his family have lived in San Antonio for the past 13 years where he has been active in his church and community.