From All American Gymnast to Serving in Haiti

Our firm is excited to announce our third GOtoGROW Scholarship winner, Courtney Stephenson, MD, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist at CMC Women's Institute - Charlotte. Dr. Stephenson was officially awarded her GOtoGROW scholarship in May of 2018 and will be traveling to Haiti for Bless Back Worldwide's Women's Health Week on July 14^th. The Maternal and Fetal Medicine specialist will be accompanied by her son, George Stephenson, as well as another GOtoGROW winner, Dr. Cheryl Onwuchuruba, who is an OB/GYN.

GOtoGROW is a scholarship program created through a partnership between Spaugh Dameron Tenny, LLC and Bless Back Worldwide in January of 2018. The purpose of the partnership is to send physicians and dentists on medical mission trips to Haiti and Nicaragua.  In Haiti, there is only one physician for every 3,000 people and only one dentist for every 31,000 people.

We sat down with Dr. Stephenson to ask her a few questions before she travels to Haiti. Here is what she had to say:

(1) What’s a fun fact about yourself that people may not know?

I was an 8 x All American Gymnast. Won a bronze medal on the balance beam at nationals.

(2) Can you tell us about your career in medicine?

I am a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist.  I did my fellowship at NYU.  Then sought out specialized training in fetal intervention at the Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati.  I traveled there for three years training, going back and forth.  Then opened the Charlotte Fetal Care Center here in Charlotte in 2010.  There are only about 22 fetal surgery centers in the United States. The next closest centers are in FL, MD, OH, TX.  So we take care of a large southern region.

I operate inside a pregnant uterus before the fetus would be viable to change the fetal physiology so that the fetus can remain in utero until much later in pregnancy when it would be safe to deliver.   The most common procedure we perform that is unique is the fetoscopic laser ablation procedure.  During this procedure, a laser is used to separate the placental vasculature between twin fetuses that are not sharing the placenta equally

(3) What are you most excited to experience in Haiti?

I am excited to be able to give back to a community in need.  I have never been on a medical mission trip so I am hoping to make a meaningful contribution to this underserved community of women.  I am also very excited to see my son in a clinical, medical setting. (Dr. Stephenson and her son, George, are photographed below)