Florida Veteran Health Heroes

Florida Veteran Health Heroes 6 Dr. Samira Meymand is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon practicing in Jacksonville, Florida, and is an accomplished leader inboth the Florida dental community and the United States Navy. A veteran of 23 years, Dr. Meymand’s military career has taken her all over the world, and she draws upon her experiences in championing safe care practices, volunteer efforts for children in need of dental health services, and increased leadership opportunities for women in the dental and medical professions. Patient safety is Dr. Meymand’s top priority in her private practice and her role as an anesthesia board inspector with the Florida Department of Health. Samira travels throughout the state of Florida to perform Anesthesia Inspections for General Anesthesia and Conscious Sedation permit holders. Dr. Meymand earned her Biology Degree at Texas A&M University, then joined the Navy in 1996 on a four-year full academic Health Professions Scholarship to attend the Baylor College of Dentistry where she graduated with honors. She was dual-enrolled at the North Texas Health Science Center Master’s in Public Health program and earned her MPH at the same time. Dr. Meymand was selected for an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery residency at the National Capital Consortium, Naval Hospital Bethesda, which coincided with the heights of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The pressures of surgical residency were amplified as hundreds of soldiers were expedited to Bethesda to be treated for serious and sometimes devastating facial injuries. Samira performed critical surgical procedures for wounded warriors, one of the greatest honors of her career. Dr. Meymand has deployed multiple times in her career, her first in 2004 in Djibouti, Africa, where she established the first general practice dental clinic. As the Chief Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, she deployed to South America with the Operation Smile Team in 2009, where she performed orofacial surgeries and cleft palate repairs. She also deployed aboard the USS Harry S. Truman as the Chief Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017. Following in 2018, she served as the Officer-In-Charge of a joint field exercise where she led a hospital teamof 51 doctors, nurses, ancillary services, and corpsmen through a mass casualty exercise. Her unit established and operated a 32-bed medical facility in an austere field environment and trained other medical providers to provide full resuscitation and emergency stabilizing surgery within a combat zone. As a Commander in the United States Naval Reserves, Dr. Meymand is currently assigned to Expeditionary Medical Facility Camp Pendleton Headquarters Unit as the Assistant Operations Officer. Dr. Meymand looks for opportunities to mentor women coming up through the ranks, as she knows the challenges and sacrifices that come with being a military officer, surgeon, wife, and mother. Dr. Meymand comes from a military family, as both her father, father-in-law, and husband are former naval submarine officers. Her military awards include Navy Commendation (3 stars), Navy Achievement (3 stars), and the Navy Volunteer Service Medal. In addition to her military involvement, she is on staff for oral surgery trauma at several hospitals throughout the Jacksonville area. She is a member of the American Association of Oral Maxillofacial Surgeons, the American Dental Association, and the Florida Dental Association. Samira Meymand, DDS, MPH 2019 Florida Veteran Health Heroes 8