MUSC Children's Health at Dee Norton Lowcountry Children's Center - Downtown

Stephanie Petersen, MSN, APRN, is a dedicated and highly skilled Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in urology and a wealth of experience in providing direct patient care. Her career, spanning over a decade, has been marked by a commitment to evidence-based practice, excellent communication, and a holistic approach to patient care. Stephanie's diverse experience includes a role at Professional Pediatrics in Roseville, California, focusing on healthcare, and at Central Maine Family Practice, offering comprehensive care throughout the lifespan. Her educational journey includes a Master of Science in Nursing and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Southern Maine. Stephanie is actively involved in professional organizations like the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the International Association of Forensic Nurses as a SANE-P (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Pediatrics) showcasing her commitment to ongoing learning and development within the field. Stephanie Petersen is known for her technical expertise and compassionate and patient-centered approach, making her an asset to the health care community.

Dr. John Melville is a child abuse pediatrician. His passion is ensuring that the very best information is available to parents, courts, and other authorities making difficult decisions about keeping children safe. Dr. Melville attended medical school at the University of California, San Diego, and completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency in Akron, Ohio. After residency, Dr. Melville achieved his first dream job as a rural physician 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the Alaskan bush. When family concerns made continued rural life untenable, Dr. Melville moved to San Antonio, Texas for a fellowship in child abuse pediatrics. Children and their families are served best when physicians and law enforcement have accurate information about a potentially abused child's medical condition. Dr. Melville developed PhotoDoc - a computer program that allows child abuse pediatricians to organize, analyze, and present forensic information. PhotoDoc helps physicians to find and use all the information known about a child abuse allegation, regardless of its source or format. Children and their families are also best served when physicians have ready access to the latest and best information about the science of child abuse assessment. As co-chair of the research committee of the Ray Helfer Society, Dr. Melville designed the Online Bibliography of Child Abuse Pediatrics, or OBCAP. OBCAP organizes and indexes current literature related to treating abused children. OBCAP is a closed database, so parents cannot access it directly. Dr. Melville's ambition for OBCAP is that the very best and latest information about abusive injuries will become quickly available to child abuse pediatricians everywhere. When a child may have been abused, information is critical. Missing abuse can leave children vulnerable to further abuse, injury, or even death. Mistakenly finding abuse disrupts a family and harms children by offering them unnecessary and restrictive protection. In the clinic, Dr. Melville takes the time to listen to everyone, document carefully, and think clearly. As a researcher, Dr. Melville develops new technologies to get the best information into the hands of decision makers to ensure the safety of children everywhere.