Dr Jeffrey Meeks: A pillar of excellence
IT’S QUITE common for children to follow in the footsteps of their parents, but when Jeffrey William Meeks decided to join the ranks of his father’s profession, who could have predicted he would rise to become one of the foremost orthodontists in Jamaica?
Perhaps his teachers, as from his days at Mona Prep and Jamaica College, Dr Meeks showed signs of the all-rounder he has become in his professional career. As a member of the Flying Fish Swim Club, he represented Jamaica at the Central American and Caribbean Amateur Swimming Confederation. His dexterity in athletics was equally matched in the classroom, where he excelled in drama and poetry. After Jamaica College, he dove head first into the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of the West Indies, majoring in chemistry and biochemistry. However, he never completely abandoned his love of poetry, and continued to develop a repertoire with the Real Mona Community Club.
While tackling the full load of an undergraduate science degree, Dr Meeks continued to acquire skills outside of the classroom, working at Wings Jamaica Ltd and flying enough hours to earn his private pilot’s license. Yet, always with an eye on the prize, he continued after his father towards a career in dentistry, going so far as to attend his alma mater.
TERTIARY EDUCATION
In 1979, Dr Meeks was accepted to McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and graduated with a doctor of dental surgery degree in 1983. His ability to excel in and outside of the classroom continued at McGill, where he won the Table Clinic Award for a project in periodontics, and simultaneously lent his skills to the Caribbean Students Society and various drama clubs.
Next on his educational journey was a visit to Howard University for postdoctoral studies, where he again excelled, receiving the Departmental Award for Achievement. Immediately upon graduating, he joined the university’s faculty as an instructor, teaching dental and orthodontics students, and also joined a private practice in
the neighbouring state of Maryland.
Despite his overseas success, Dr Meeks returned to Jamaica in 1987 to establish his private practice, Islandsmiles Orthodontics, eventually expanding to a second location in Montego Bay in 1992. While dividing his time between both coasts, he still found the time to contribute away from the orthodontic chair.
He has written multiple articles for peer-reviewed journals; has served on numerous boards, including Hillel Academy and the former national airline, Air Jamaica; was a founding member of the Caribbean Society of Orthodontics; and is the longest-serving president of the Jamaica Dental Association.
Dr Meeks’ achievements and contributions to Jamaica have not gone unrecognised as in 2014, he was awarded the Carlton Alexander Award, the pinnacle of peer recognition given to Jamaica College graduates, to acknowledge his outstanding professional and philanthropic achievements. While he may have surpassed his father’s reach in dentistry, Meeks has inherited his most enduring trait: spending time with family, whether it’s boat rides or flying, and being an incomparable father to his two children, Joshua and Savannah.