An up-close look at our most popular issue over the years.
The OG M.D.
In the three decades since PHOENIX magazine launched Top Doctors, 46 different Valley physicians (along with two stock-art models – see the regrettable 1997 edition) have graced our cover. The first: Dr. R.V. Stephens, who was part of our inaugural class of Top Doc general surgeons in 1995.
Now retired and living near his late wife’s childhood home in Seymour, Indiana, Stephens remembers being pleased but slightly embarrassed by the attention – particularly from his fellow doctors at Good Samaritan. “I downplayed it as much as possible [with them] and never used it as a marketing tool,” he says. “Although we did get some reprints for patients.”
The honor came as Stephens neared the pinnacle of a remarkable clinical career – one that started as a battlefield surgeon in the Vietnam War and spanned four decades in the Valley. Along the way, he helped resurrect Phoenix International Raceway as a co-owner with several other Valley doctors just as NASCAR was starting to achieve mainstream popularity.
Upon retirement, he became quite the world traveler, visiting 103 countries with his wife, Sara, before her passing in 2013. “It changed my life,” Stephens says of his Top Docs fame. “I’m grateful for it and proud of it.”
THEN AND NOW
1995
2025
No. of specialties
23
63
No. of Top Docs
237
714
PHOENIX mag cover price
$2.50
$6.99
Dow Jones Avg. in February
4,168.41
44,546.08
All-Time Most Common Top Docs Surnames
- Patel 37
- Smith 23
- Shah 19
- Cohen 13
- Lee 13
