Courtney Barrows McKeown

General Surgeon

Courtney Barrows McKeown, MD is a board-certified general surgeon. She earned her medical degree at New York Medical College, graduating Alpha Omega Alpha. She completed her general surgery residency training in 2020 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, and received additional subspecialty training in hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgery in the Midwest. She started her career as a community general surgeon in southern New Hampshire, and recently joined Dr. Amy Vertrees' private practice, Columbia Surgical Partners, in Columbia, TN.

Dr. McKeown has recently appeared on several podcasts including The BOSS Business of Surgery Series, Promising Young Surgeon, and A Life True to You. She has written articles for the website "Rethinking Residency", where she shared her story of struggling with perfectionism, mental health, and addiction during training - including the trials and tribulations she faced and the barriers she overcame to get her health and career back on track. She is an ambassador for the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes' Foundation in order to advocate, increase awareness, and identify solutions to promote physician health and well-being. She celebrated three years of sobriety earlier this year. Dr. McKeown also managed to navigate through a very difficult job transition last year, and was able to overcome several challenges in order to find her dream job, with the help of career coaching.

Her mission is to provide hope and mentorship to other early career physicians who may be struggling with similar issues she faced, reduce stigma, and help drive systemic changes in order to make our professional climate better for the next generation of surgeons.

In her free time, Dr. McKeown enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog Buddy, golfing, kayaking, and is an avid Boston sports fan.