Meet Dr. Allison Stiles
Dr. Stiles comes from an unusual background, having taken a circuitous route to medicine. A road that led her back to Memphis where she grew up. Her parents initially moved to Memphis in the late 60’s (with much trepidation after Dr. King was shot, I might add). She grew up in Whitehaven, then Midtown, when she transferred into the Optional program at Bellevue then Central High School. Her Dad talked her into a major in Engineering, which would give her more options if she changed her mind about Medicine. She found Biochemical engineering a great major because she could get all the med school requirements, with minimal liberal arts, and avoid foreign language classes. Of course, now she wishes she had taken some liberal arts, Spanish, and hadn’t quit those piano lessons long ago!!
Her Biochemical Engineering major landed her a job with Procter and Gamble for 10 wonderful years. She worked in Cape Girardeau, MO and Cincinnati, OH, getting to travel to Italy, Germany, and England. She saved money to go to Med School at the University of Cincinnati, where she started at the age of 32. She believes strongly that it is better to be mature when going to med school!
After med school, she wanted to find a more liberal big city, so moved to Chicago where she met her husband. She completed her 4 year residency in Med Peds (Internal Medicine and Pediatrics) at the University of Illinois in Chicago. See "What is MedPeds" to better understand this field.
She moved back to Memphis to be near her family in 2003, starting a practice with Dr. Tiffany Hall, also Med Peds. Dr. Hall left in 2005 to be closer to her home in Collierville and Dr. Stiles has since been a solo practitioner. She recently hired Rela A. Neely, Nurse Practioner extraordinaire which has added tremendously to the practice (see Rela's biography here).
As a Pediatrician
Dr. Stiles is a mother of 2, Ian and Eryn, the lights of her life! She breastfed both exclusively for 7 months even when back at work, proving that anyone can do it! Breastfeeding is one of her passions and she is on the Shelby County Breastfeeding Coalition. She loves her newborns and helping her new Mom’s with breastfeeding and the challenges of that first month. Being a Med Peds doc comes in handy here, because she can help with Mom’s issues like post-partum depression. She knows about medications and breastfeeding.
Dr. Stiles is, let’s say, “a modified attachment parent,” modified in that she believes in helping the child sleep through the night in their own bed when the time is “right”. She deals with many sleep issues for children and adults. Fatigue, ADD, and behavior issues go hand in hand!
OTHER PROFILES
Debra L. Coplon, CHPN, APN, FNP-BC