Denton County Living Well Magazine May/June 2019 | Page 29

THE EVOLUTION OF
DR. STEPHEN P. COURTNEY
F
From hospital orderly to hospital owner.
or board-certified, fellowship trained orthopedic spine surgeon
Dr. Stephen P. Courtney, patients come first. It’s an ethos that
developed early on in his life and one that has helped guide
him in his journey to earn a distinguished reputation among his
professional colleagues, medical peers and, most importantly,
his patients.
Cover Story
Dr. Courtney began his medicine career from the ground up. While a teenag-
er, he spent summers working in a rural north Louisiana hospital. As an orderly,
he was an integral part of the hospital environment. While not a glorified job,
cleaning bed pans, changing bed sheets, cleaning patient rooms, helping med-
ical practitioners, and assisting patients, offered him an invaluable glimpse into
the hard work and dedication necessary to succeed in the medical field. The
job also served as the catalyst for his decision to pursue medical school.
Inspired by the patients he’d cared for there, Dr. Courtney made education a
priority. He was salutatorian of his high school class and went on to graduate
summa cum laude from Northeast Louisiana University. While at Louisiana State
University Medical School, he utilized his summer to perform spine biomechan-
ical tests on human spine cadavers utilizing pedicle screws. Considered cutting
edge biomechanics and technology at that time, most spine surgeons didn’t even
know they existed yet. However, Dr. Courtney performed one of the first bio-
mechanical tests on those implants. It was a feat that earned him the Howmed-
ica Biomechanic Award and the Louisiana Orthopedic Association Award. He
also placed fourth in the World Congress for Student Research Competition.
Dr. Courtney’s residency at Texas A&M University Medical Center and further special-
ty training through a fellowship at Florida Neck & Back Institute in Gainesville, Flori-
da, additionally cemented his strong medical foundation. From there, he continued to
gain more knowledge and insight on how to help his patients with useful spine im-
plants, while recognizing there was room for much improvement in the tools at hand.
This realization inspired Dr. Courtney to design, develop, biomechanically test,
complete FDA testing and oversee quality control and validation on a host of
tools he created. To date, Dr. Courtney has developed nine spinal product lines
and obtained nine patents and 14 trademarks on spine related products.
When he’s not traveling the country training other physicians on how to utilize his
products, Dr. Courtney dedicates himself to the patients of his own medical prac-
tice, Advanced Spine Center. Dedicated to developing superior operative tech-
niques to treat neck and back disorders, Dr. Courtney leads a skilled team to care
for patients with neck and back pain using a wide array of the most state-of-the-art
Continued, next page
DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MAY/JUNE 2019
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