About Darline Turner-Lee, Physician Assistant, ACSM Exercise Specialist

In the summer of 1995, Darline Turner-Lee was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. Her family physician erroneously advised her to have a hysterectomy because, “she’d never carry a pregnancy to term.” Darline had always hoped to marry and have a family, but at 30 years old and with no immediate prospects, the news came as a devastating blow.

A then practicing physician assistant, Darline put her skills and resources to work to find the best treatment course for her situation. Despite her medical background, she was frustrated by her own inability to find information that would help her create a plan to manage her fibroid symptoms without surgery.

She finally found a gynecologist who was well informed about the latest treatments for fibroids. Together they tried several different conventional treatments to manage the fibroid symptoms, none of which provided complete symptom relief. In her frustration, Darline took the advice of a friend and consulted with an herbalist and acupuncturist. She was initially quite skeptical, but agreed to a three month trial of treatment.

At the end of the three months, Darline was symptom free. Over the next two years, Darline continued to use herbs and lifestyle modifications to manage her menstrual cycles and her fibroids, which according to her gynecologist had begun to shrink. Darline had her fibroids surgically removed in 2001. Today she is “mama” to her daughter born in 2002 and her son born in 2006.

Darline’s mission is to advocate for choices in women’s healthcare. “There is always more than one method of treatment in any given medical situation and when you’re in the midst of the problem trying to make decisions and time is of the essence, you shouldn’t have to search for information-it should be readily available and easily accessible.”

In 2001 Darline formulated her company, Next Step Fitness, and incorporated in 2002. Darline holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Tufts University and a Master of Health Science Degree from Duke University Medical Center’s Physician Assistant Program. She practiced for 8 years as a physician assistant in family and internal medicine with a focus on women’s health. She is an American College of Sports Medicine Certified Exercise Specialist®, a Certified Moms in Motion Fitness Instructor and Healthy Moms® Fitness instructor. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and two children.

Darline Turner-Lee is available for consultations Monday - Frday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can contact Darline by emailing darline@nextstepfitness.com