Dr. Stephany participates in clinical research outcomes to help improve treatments for all patients.
With a focus on both local and international education, Dr. Stephany places an emphasis on resident and fellow education.
Dr. Stephany volunteers with International Volunteers in Urology (IVUMed). In this capacity, she travels to Africa biannually to conduct workshops.
Dr. Heidi A. Stephany
This pediatric urology program is unique. It is Orange County, CA’s sole dedicated center with fellowship-trained pediatric specialists. The team provides diagnosis, ongoing treatment, and surgical intervention for pediatric urology concerns.
Dr. Stephany and her colleagues recognize that the urology care and services needed by a child are different from the needs of an adult patient. The treatments that are provided are specialized and tailored for kids with the ultimate goal of preserving childhood, regardless of the diagnosis.
A wide variety of patients are treated at CHOC Children’s Urology Center, and Dr. Stephany and her team are committed to developing evidence-based management and treatment plans, so that each child’s care plan is customized and individual to that child’s needs. The team works closely with each child’s parents/legal guardians, along with other specialists, in order to get a detailed perspective of a diagnosis. Our team understands that the child’s family is an important resource in providing complete and thorough care, and by providing comprehensive care under one roof with coordination between the family and multiple specialists helps to simplify the process.
Many of the procedures that are often associated with outpatient hospital visits are able to be performed with our team and CHOC Children’s. This provides children with the comfort of an office atmosphere and keeps much of a child’s care in one convenient location. Some procedures can even be completed on the same day as the initial visit, if needed. With a close group of urology experts present, patients and their families can receive the most thorough post-procedure instructions.
Our goal is to provide the best possible treatment plans for conditions such as disorders of sexual differentiation and spina bifida. In fact, CHOC Children’s has the country’s only specialized Spina Bifida Clinic, which is attended by six different specialties. The state-designated Spina Bifida Team Center includes a team of pediatric urologists, orthopaedic surgeons, neurologists, and more, which has been internationally recognized for expertise and innovative treatments. The Spina Bifida Clinic utilizes the latest in surgical techniques and care in order to help patients and their families with the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Our Sexual Differentiation Program helps patients and families work through any questions or feelings that are involved due to atypical genitalia. When a child’s gender is not clear at birth, parents may be stressed about the next steps. We work with each parent or guardian in order to provide the best medical, educational, surgical, and psychological support available. Our goal is to treat the whole child in every circumstance, and to give families the information they need to feel confident in their care.
Additionally, we are the leaders in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term follow-up care for patients with hypospadias. Our Hypospadias Program has complication rates below the national average, and our team of specialists partner with families to develop the best options for treatment based on each child’s unique needs. Regardless of the challenges facing patients and their families, we look forward to helping to find solutions that work best for everyone.
Dr. Stephany’s clinical interests are focused on complex reconstructive surgery, especially disorders of sexual differentiation and hypospadias, as well as pediatric urologic oncology. She participates in clinical outcomes research with an interest in both neurogenic and non-neurogenic voiding dysfunction. Dr. Stephany places a focus on both local and international education for residents and fellows, and she actively participates in clinical outcomes research. Additionally, she is a board member for International Volunteers in Urology (IVUMed) and has traveled biannually to Africa in order to conduct workshops with local urologists.
Dr. Stephany has a subspecialty certification in pediatric urology. She received her medical doctorate at the University of Kansas School of Medicine before completing her residency training in urology at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Her pediatric urology fellowship was completed in Nashville, Tennessee at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In previous roles, Dr. Stephany was an Assistant Professor and the Associate Clinical Director at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh’s Division of Pediatric Urology.
Specialties
Dr. Stephany’s clinical interests include complex reconstructive surgery, specifically hypospadias and disorders of sexual differentiation.
Dr. Stephany is hands down, the best pediatric urologist! She is knowledgeable, thorough and caring. At appointments we never feel rushed, and before we leave she makes sure that my son understands what she is saying, it's not all medical jargon...she talks to him in words he understands (important for a shy 12 yr. old boy). She takes her time to review everything and consult...
First of all, I'd like to say that I don't have words to thank you for everything you did the for our son and it's very scared to put him in the condition that we don't know when he wakes up how he's going to be and he woke up and so fast and everything went so perfectly, which is not in your power to...
