Meet Dr. Courtney Toombs, MD

Dr. Courtney Toombs received her bachelor’s degree with honors from Princeton University and graduated from NYU School of Medicine before completing her Orthopaedic Surgery Residency at Yale New Haven Hospital. She is the first woman from Yale to receive an Orthopedic Spine Surgery Fellowship, which she completed at NYU Langone Hospital.

While at NYU, Dr. Toombs served as Student Council President and co-founder of the Student Diversity Initiative, created to advance the goal of a generation of doctors who reflect the backgrounds of the patients they care for. For this work, she received the NYU President’s Service Award, given to students who display exemplary service dedication to the NYU community.

During her training, Dr. Toombs invested her time in clinical research, largely focused on spinal deformity and adult spine surgery outcomes, with contributions to the publication of a novel orthopaedic oncology procedure for pelvic metastatic lesions using kyphoplasty techniques. She has published over 30 peer-reviewed publications and presented podiums at AAOS, NASS, SRS, IMAST, ISASS and AO Spine meetings.

She has received numerous research awards including the EOA Resident Travel Award, Best Abstract Award and the Yale O. Donald Chrisman Award for Best Chief Resident Research Thesis. She is also an editorial reviewer at Spine Journal and Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research (CORR) Journal.

Dr. Toombs is specially trained in state-of-the-art spine surgery technologies, including minimally invasive spine (MIS) surgery, robotic-assisted and computer navigation-assisted spine surgery, as well as lateral approaches to the spine. She has advanced training in endoscopic spine surgery, which provides smaller incisions and faster recovery for certain spine conditions. She is constantly seeking new ways to bring appropriate advancements to her patients and holds a pending patent for a novel digital health technology.

Dr. Toombs likes spending her free time with her family and dog, traveling around the world and engaging with the arts. Originally from NYC, she pursued ballet, creative writing and theater before entering medicine. She still enjoys writing, attending live theater and music performances, and dancing to remain active.