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Shaun D. Carstairs, MD FACEP FACMT

Dr. Carstairs received a B.S. with honor from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and his M.D. from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  He completed his Emergency Medicine residency at Naval Medical Center San Diego and a Medical Toxicology fellowship at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center.  He is currently board-certified in both Emergency Medicine and Medical Toxicology.  He holds an active appointment as a Professor of Military & Emergency Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD.

Dr. Carstairs retired from the U.S. Navy as a Captain after more than 25 years of service. He is a veteran of the Iraq War, where he led a U.S. Navy Shock Trauma Platoon in western Iraq; he also spent two years as a Diving Medical Officer with a U.S. Marine Corps special operations unit.  He previously served as both Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and Residency Program Director at Naval Medical Center San Diego, and spent 3 years as the Chief Medical Officer of the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. He currently works as an emergency physician and medical toxicologist with Scripps Healthcare in San Diego County.

Dr. Carstairs has extensive research experience and has authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, and book chapters on a variety of subjects including fetal effects of prenatal medication use, evaluation and treatment of venomous snakebites, carbon monoxide poisoning, intoxication with synthetic cannabinoids (“Spice”), and the toxic effects of plants and other natural substances, along with the evaluation of neurologic emergencies, high-altitude illnesses, and the effects of alcohol on the human body.  Other interests include: Environmental and Wilderness Medicine and Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine.