Stephanie Davis

Stephanie Davis’ duties as an Air Force doctor included a monthly appointment with the upper atmosphere.

As a flight surgeon at Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington state, she provided air crews with health care. “I experienced the same physiological environment that the air crews experienced,” she explains. “It gave me insight into a specialized population of patients.”

You might trace her career path back to the country fairs of Georgia, where she judged dairy cows in her 4-H club. Her childhood interest in animals led her to veterinary school at Tuskegee University on an Air Force scholarship. She went on to spend four years as an Air Force Public Health Officer and then attended medical school. Her career has included one deployment to Bahrain and two to Kyrgyzstan, where, among other things, she has helped refuel U.S. and coalition aircraft patrolling Afghanistan’s airspace. Davis was recently selected for promotion to lieutenant colonel.

Now she and her pet cat, Sammy Davis, are in New Haven while she attends Yale’s 11-month program for health professionals. When she graduates, Davis will complete an aerospace/preventative medicine residency at an Air Force base in Ohio.

Yale is her latest assignment for the Air Force and she welcomes the chance to expand her knowledge. “To be able to focus on one thing is really refreshing right now.”