Melissa Stephens, MD, MS, FAAFP, DABFM
Associate Dean of GME and Population Health
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Melissa R. Stephens, MD, MS, FAAFP, DABFM graduated with distinction from the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine in 1998. She then completed family medicine residency training at the University of Kansas Medical in 2001. After residency, she remained on faculty as Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She later served as faculty at the Goppert-Trinity Family Medicine Residency Program in Kansas City, Missouri.
Dr. Stephens spent more than a decade in clinical practice caring for underserved patients in rural and urban settings in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest, and Mississippi Gulf Coast. In 2015, she joined William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (WCUCOM) in Hattiesburg, Mississippi as Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences. Dr. Stephens has been awarded the WCUCOM Outstanding Clinical Faculty Award and the AACOM Society of Osteopathic Medical Educators Marguerite Elliott Innovation in Clinical Medical Education Award. She was recognized as the 2023 Evelyn Gandy Women’s Leadership Honoree at the Mississippi Pinnacle Awards.
In August 2023, Dr. Stephens transitioned to a new part-time position at WCUCOM. She currently serves as Associate Dean of Population Health and Professor of Clinical Sciences. She actively leads a number of different initiatives at the medical school including Tar Wars (tobacco-free education program); Child Advocacy Studies Training (CAST); and Choosing Wisely STARS (Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship). Dr. Stephens made this transition to be able to accept a position as the Associate Program Director of the EC-HealthNet Family Medicine Residency Program in Meridian, Mississippi. She subsequently was promoted to Program Director in January 2024. Dr. Stephens is excited to lead this community-based residency program, where an emphasis is placed on full-scope rural training. She is actively working with strategic partners to help the residency program launch the first Rural Maternal Health (Family Medicine with Obstetrics) Fellowship in Mississippi.
Dr. Stephens serves on the Mississippi Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Board of Trustees (President); Office of Mississippi Physician Workforce Advisory Board and Executive Committee (Vice Chair); National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners National Faculty; Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Medical Education Collaborative Steering Committee; Schools Against Vaping Advisory Council; and Hattiesburg EXCEL by 5 Steering Committee. Dr. Stephens is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians.
