Medical Education

University of South Carolina School of Medicine, MD, 2000

Residencies

Earl K. Long Medical Center, 2003

Fellowships

Tampa General Hospital, 2004

Specialties

Critical Care Medicine
Neurocritical Care Medicine

Board Certifications

American Board of Emergency Medicine, 2004
European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, 2007
United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties (Neurocritical Care), 2008

Biography

Dr. William Owens is from Columbia, SC. He is a graduate of The Citadel and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. After graduating from medical school, he went on to do a residency in Emergency Medicine in Baton Rouge, LA; he then completed fellowship training in Critical Care Medicine at the University of South Florida in Tamps.

Dr. Owens practiced both Emergency Medicine and Critical Care Medicine from 2004 until 2006, when he decided to pursue Critical Care full-time. He served as director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Palmetto Health Richland from 2008 until 2011; he also was a full-time faculty member of the USC SOM Department of Internal Medicine.

In 2011, Dr. Owens accepted a position as Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. He served on the faculty there until 2012, when he and his family returned to Columbia. Dr. Owens is now the Division Chief for the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. His professional interests include mechanical ventilation, neurocritical care, medical education, and ultrasonography in the ICU. He considers teaching medical students and resident physicians to be a great honor and privilege, and enjoys training them in the craft of caring for the most seriously ill. 

His passion for critical care has led him to create a new, innovative medical app, The Ventilator, which is now available for download and purchase. This app is a great way for students or residents to learn about setting up the vent, making adjustments, and troubleshooting issues. It is also a great tool for any critical care provider, as it works to reduce the gap of new, lung-protective knowledge available to physicians. 

Dr. Owens is a proud husband and father of three children (and two St. Bernards). He enjoys whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, and travel.