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Board of Directors for the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation, working to guide the delivery of patient care at the nearly new P.L. 638 Hospital her tribe has established. One of Stevens’ goals is advocating for traditional healing in hospital settings.
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Board of Directors for the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation, working to guide the delivery of patient care at the nearly new P.L. 638 Hospital her tribe has established. One of Stevens’ goals is advocating for traditional healing in hospital settings.
Hands-on patient care and advocacy have been her interest since choosing a career in medicine. After graduating from Escuela Nacional Normal in Alcorta, Argentina and Globe High School in Globe, Ariz., Stevens (Vikki) began as a pre-med student at the University of Arizona in Tucson, earning her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1976.
This made it easy to travel home many weekends to work at the ranch with her father, who was the manager of the San Carlos Apache Tribal Registered Herd of Hereford Cattle Association.
Staying close to her family in the San Carlos Apache homelands gave her the strength she needed as a continuing source of power in her personal and professional life.
Stevens did her internship and residency in general surgery at Maricopa County General Hospital in Phoenix. She completed her orthopedic surgery residency at the Phoenix Orthopedic Residency Program in 1983, and was board certified in orthopedic surgery in 1987.
Another transformative experience was joining the Commissioned Corps in the Indian Health Service (IHS) after finishing internship.
Stevens made the decision to leave IHS and return to residency after fulfilling two years of her scholarship obligation. The Chief of the Phoenix Integrated Orthopedic Residency recruited Stevens for a career in surgery.
Over the ensuing years, Stevens set up a private practice in orthopedic surgery in Globe, Ariz. with her partner Dr. Jody Daggett, achieving a goal that her mentor in medical school had once said was improbable, if not impossible (i.e. the delivery of specialty care in rural Arizona). She and Jody married before finishing residency together, and both wanted to serve patients in rural areas, the San Carlos Apache Reservation in particular.
Stevens has fulfilled her mission of improving the lives of her Apache people and others.
Today, she and Jody have two sons. She enjoys taking care of her parents, maintaining a home and hobbies, and traveling both locally and internationally.
