Majid Jamali, DMD - Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon in New York City

Eva Sheie (00:03):
The purpose of this podcast is simple. We want you to get to know your doctor before meeting them in person, because you're making a life-changing decision, and time is scarce. The more you can learn about who your doctor is before you meet them, the better that first meeting will be. There's no substitute for an in-person appointment, but we hope this comes close. I'm your host, Eva Sheie, and you're listening to Meet the Doctor. Welcome to Meet the Doctor. My guest today is Majid Jamali. He's an OMS, which is, uh, oral and maxillofacial surgeon here in New York City in lower Manhattan specifically. Welcome to the podcast.

Dr. Jamali (00:45):
Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Eva Sheie (00:47):
It's nice to see you today. It's a beautiful Saturday and we're inside talking about you.

Dr. Jamali (00:52):
Oh boy. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (00:55):
The best place to start is usually just tell us about yourself.

Dr. Jamali (00:59):
Okay. Uh, it's a long story <laugh>, but uh,

Eva Sheie (01:03):
We have time.

Dr. Jamali (01:04):
<laugh>, Where do I start? I'm from Iran originally. I was born there and raised until 14, but due to war with, uh, neighboring country. Uh, had to fled the country and, uh, came to Europe, tried to get visa to us for a few months, and finally made it to US 1986. And so it was middle of high school. So I did the high school in Massachusetts along with college and dental school in Tufts University. Then I worked actually as a general dentist for a year, then did a year of dental anesthesiology in, uh, New Jersey and went back to general dentistry because I couldn't afford going to a specialty and didn't have a green card. And of course, unfortunately 9 11 happened and they stopped all the immigration process and uh, delayed things. So I actually became a citizen after 25 years of being here. <laugh>.

Eva Sheie (02:07):
What year did you do that?

Dr. Jamali (02:09):
It was 2010.

Eva Sheie (02:11):
Wow. You really fought.

Dr. Jamali (02:12):
Yes, <laugh> and, uh, it was tough, but yeah, so I came back. Uh, I was actually in La Jolla for, uh, eight, nine years doing general dentistry. That was nice.

Eva Sheie (02:21):
Really?

Dr. Jamali (02:22):
Yes. But I wanted to further my education. I didn't think that was enough for me. So yeah.

Eva Sheie (02:28):
Well the weather and the, you know, the environment in La Jolla is really awful, so I can see why you left.

Dr. Jamali (02:33):
Yeah. Wearing t-shirt every day and convertible in front of Fortune, it got to me. So I had to come to Kings County Hospital, middle of Brooklyn and gunshots here, gunshots while I'm on call and <laugh>.

Eva Sheie (02:47):
Oh my gosh.

Dr. Jamali (02:48):
So, so I did that In 2005, I returned to New York and spent five years in downstate and Kings County Hospital completing maxillofacial surgery residency. And then went to Lennox Hill Hospital and completed a year of fellowship in orthonathic and jaw surgery. And after that I started my own practice in lower Manhattan. And here I am. <laugh>.

Eva Sheie (03:17):
That is a long road.

Dr. Jamali (03:18):
Yes. <laugh> changed high school three times. Well, four times. Sorry,

Eva Sheie (03:24):
Let's go back to high school for a second.

Dr. Jamali (03:25):
No, please don't. <laugh>. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (03:28):
You said you were 14 when you fled?

Dr. Jamali (03:30):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (03:30):
Iran. So that must have been with your parents.

Dr. Jamali (03:32):
No, no parents. Uh, no parents, no parents.

Eva Sheie (03:35):
You did this alone.

Dr. Jamali (03:35):
 Yes. So, uh, parents stayed back cuz had siblings. They're older. So, um, so basically when you are, uh, 14 and a half, the government would keep you until you are 17 or 18, whatever, you finish the high school. And, uh, you would pass this rigorous exam. If you got good grades in the exam, you would go study in university and if not, you go to Army, which meant war. And back then, and still is really the molas supporters or government people would go to medical and dental, higher education, so the other people wouldn't. So yeah, that was the story. You would go to war basically.

Eva Sheie (04:15):
And so you're seeing this deadline approach.

Dr. Jamali (04:18):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (04:18):
And you're 14 and so your parents were supportive of you leaving?

Dr. Jamali (04:22):
Well, they, I didn't know. This 14 year old doesn't know anything. <laugh>, you know, I still don't know, but, uh, my parents kind of, I mean, you let your kid go or have him go to war, so which one is <laugh>? You know,

Eva Sheie (04:34):
These are terrible choices.

Dr. Jamali (04:36):
Terrible choices. And many people like me, uh, had to do it. Uh, most of my friends did this. So there's like a generation of boys that came at the age of 14, 15, whether with their parents and mostly with their parents, but a lot alone. So.

Eva Sheie (04:51):
So when you meet someone else from Iran who's here in the United States and is about your age, do you sort of have an understanding of why?

Dr. Jamali (04:58):
Yes, yes. Absolutely. Right. Yeah. We went through a lot <laugh>, but a lot of people went through a lot. Yeah. All the immigrants, mostly <laugh>.

Eva Sheie (05:09):
Looking back on this, the sort of beginning of your, of the second part of your life at a such a young age, do you feel like everything after that was not as hard? You know, did it set you up to be bolder and take more risks?

Dr. Jamali (05:25):
I think I'm, in general, I'm a ambitious person and kind of both take a lot of risks. Sometimes too many risks, including, uh, opening a office in La Jolla without green card or money <laugh>. I mean, they almost kicked me out of dental school because I couldn't, I didn't have money. So, uh, one day the dean came tapped on my shoulder like, can I see you outside <laugh>? So you gotta pay by in a month, 20,000, otherwise you're out. And I couldn't get a loan because I didn't have green card, so I kind of lied and I say, yeah, yeah, the money's coming, <laugh>. So finally shopping around, I got like a 13% interest loan and, and the dental school. So did I get tougher? I'm not sure. And same probably, uh, not being a citizen and not having a green card. It was the toughest.

(06:18):
And it's like every year is the same because there's so many issues that others don't see. Even like if you want to go to, for example, Bermuda, you just get on a plane and go, but as a Iranian <laugh>, you have to go to Embassy <laugh>, apply for visa, buy your ticket first and get in medical insurance and then get your visa <laugh>. So it's a lot of things like this that you have to go through. But, so that was the toughest part. Yeah. Getting loans, getting just through the life. And also, um, during, after 9 11, I mean, immigration would have us report to, uh, immigration in Los Angeles, uh, every month. So I would close my office once a month. I would go in a room <laugh> and report what I've been doing, where I've been and all that doing. And in fact, a lot of professionals got arrested Irananians just for no reason at that time, if you remember. It was rough. So yeah,

Eva Sheie (07:20):
I do remember hearing about it in the news. And certainly there was outrage, but I've never met anyone who actually had to do it.

Dr. Jamali (07:28):
Yes. I mean, uh, it was scary times because, uh, as Iranian, I mean people, there was no prejudice that would attack any at that time, if you remember. Like people would get attacked in taxi and uh, I was afraid my parents visited me and I was really, truly afraid for them. I mean, at that it was dangerous times. <laugh>. So

Eva Sheie (07:48):
Your parents are still living in Iran?

Dr. Jamali (07:50):
They're living in Iran. Yes. They come every two, three years, but they're older, 90 years old. So

Eva Sheie (07:56):
They're 90.

Dr. Jamali (07:57):
Almost. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (07:58):
So will they still come visit?

Dr. Jamali (08:00):
They were here last year, so they do. Yeah. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (08:02):
Oh, that's remarkable.

Dr. Jamali (08:03):
Healthy <laugh>. I got good genes.

Eva Sheie (08:07):
You are a person who has solved incredible problems just to keep on the track you're on and to get where you are. And I think there are many parallels that could be drawn to the kinds of patients you see. Um, especially if they've been through something traumatic or, or something difficult, you know, and I, I have always had maybe the most respect for OMS surgeons because you're able to take apart someone's face and put it back together. The whole face. Like the entire thing.

Dr. Jamali (08:40):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (08:40):
The inside and the outside. So am I accurate here in my assessment of,

Dr. Jamali (08:46):
Yes, it's in a nice field because, uh, and it's has a such a huge range. I mean, and OMS can stay in the office and do wisdom teeth all day if they want to, or do frontal sinus by, pull out the, hold the skin of the face down and repair the fractures around the orbit and nose and, uh, work with neurosurgeon around the brain and do tumors, malignancies, to head and neck surgeries, facial plastics if they want to. So it's a, it's a unique specialty. And also we are, I believe we're the only specialty in the country that we can do IV sedations, uh, in the office ourselves. No other specialty can do that.

Eva Sheie (09:30):
I never knew that.

Dr. Jamali (09:31):
Yes. Even plastic surgeons where anybody else, because we do get training six months to a year in anesthesia in the program, and we do pediatric anesthesia, so we do it all. So yeah, it's nice. And of course face anatomy is, I think is the most interesting anatomy in the body. So <laugh>,

Eva Sheie (09:49):
I've heard that.

Dr. Jamali (09:50):
It's a lot involved. Yes, yes.

Eva Sheie (09:52):
Today you're several decades into this career and it's clear that you can do it all, but what are you focused on in your current practice?

Dr. Jamali (10:02):
Well, I don't do, and I'm not trained to do malignancies. Uh, you really have to do a year or two extra to do head and neck malignancies. I do benign tumors, but, um, those, I don't facial plastics. Uh, I have a knowledge of it, but I don't, I don't get into it because I really, when I'm doing something, I really like to be an expert in it. My patients are not guinea pigs <laugh>. So I really wanna know, uh, exactly what I'm doing. So my passion has been always orthotic surgery, jaw surgery. And my mentor, uh, was from South Africa, one of the best surgeons in the world, Dr. Renick. And I went, visited him a few times just to grab every knowledge that I can from him. And, uh, so that has been really a passion of mine. It just changes lives and gives so much confidence to a patient, even with a minor chin surgery.

(11:00):
It just makes huge difference and it affects the whole face, actually. The nose and ears and eyes just all become going to balance, uh, when you do mid face and lower face. And the other stuff that I'm really, um, recently have become passionate is minor searches like gingival or gum grafting, and we call it plastic surgery for, uh, gums. So that has, uh, exploded last two, three years and I enjoy that. And gingival work, gum work around the implants, dental implants and bone grafting, enrich grafting to help people to have implants again, which 10 years ago, 15 years ago was impossible. So these days we can do anything really and anyone can have a dental implant. So yeah, I've had good teachers and I continue to thrive to learn more about those things.

Eva Sheie (12:00):
In the general sense, all of this is cosmetic, right? We don't wanna look disfigured or deformed.

Dr. Jamali (12:06):
Well cosmetic and also for jaw surges, really, some people may have a overbite, underbites that really cannot function, right? So my patients are half, half perhaps So, uh, some have severe or moderate sleep apnea. So when you have sleep apnea, usually most cases is because of the tongue falling back and the airway closes. So jaw surgery has been shown that it's the best surgery or procedure for this sleep apnea with 80, 85% success rate, which is one of the highest compared to any other procedure. So I do that a lot. I did that two days ago when a young patient, 40 year, year old. And uh, they just for the, they tell me always a month later they tell me it's amazing. For the first time I've had a dream.

Eva Sheie (12:56):
Because they were never sleeping well enough to actually dream.

Dr. Jamali (12:57):
Right. They never went to that deep stage of sleep to have a dream. So it, yeah, no more snoring, no more. They can now sleep with a partner. They don't sleep in the separate rooms.

Eva Sheie (13:09):
What is the objective of that particular surgery? To make the jaw wider? To do, what are you doing?

Dr. Jamali (13:15):
Right. So every case is different. And so orthotic surgery, jaw surgery is like a art and medicine. So when I look at the patient that come for, uh, sleep apnea, I look at their airway, their bite and aesthetics. So these three things I look at and I don't forget about, about the other when I focus in one. So if you just focus on this, for example, airway, then you can really ruin the face. So I, uh, manipulate the upper jaw ane lower jaw in my mind to see what would give the best face, best bite and best airway for that patient. So after that, we plan it digitally and we perform the surgery. But, uh, yeah, so every case is different. You the upper palette, the jaw might be narrow, we may have to widen it during the surgery. The lower jaw usually is back and small. You bring it forward along with the upper jaw and the chin. So with that, the profile becomes, uh, stronger and better too.

Eva Sheie (14:22):
You mentioned gum grafting earlier. That's also life-changing, I think. Yes. Going from, I expect someone who can't smile because they're embarrassed to actually being able to open their mouth again.

Dr. Jamali (14:37):
Absolutely.

Eva Sheie (14:38):
But is there a functional aspect to that too?

Dr. Jamali (14:41):
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean now they can have, receive implants and have teeth and chew versus, uh, partial denture removal, denture <laugh>. That's, uh, really annoying, uh, especially on a young patient and uh, you know, aesthetically they can't smile at all. Now they can. And that's, uh, definitely functionally it matters. Yes.

Eva Sheie (15:07):
What are your very favorite kinds of cases?

Dr. Jamali (15:10):
Hmm. Oh boy, again about oral maxillofacial surgery. I have many favorites. Orbital fractures and reconstruction used to be my favorite. And it still is, probably is, uh, so much anatomy around the eye. Any jaw surgery is still my favorite. Chin surgery is my favorite. Trauma is my favorite because I really can help the patient getting back to their normal function.

Eva Sheie (15:37):
What kind of trauma? So say I am in the ER for something, hopefully that that just happened to me. Yes. Like, uh, I like to use the example that my toddler just smashed, headbutted me in the face and now my nose is broken. But what other kinds of situations would you wanna have an OMS surgeon on speed dial for?

Dr. Jamali (15:58):
Anything from fractures, falls that can damage the frontal sinus in here, forehead, the eye socket can fracture. So you'll, when you look up, for example, one eye may go up and the other may get stuck because the fat and muscles have herniated to the sinus because of the fracture here. Nose fractures and jaw fractures. And also we do a lot of lacerations and cut repairs in the emergency room. Uh, ear lacerations, dog bites, human bites, <laugh>. So I've seen it all.

Eva Sheie (16:35):
Oh no.

Dr. Jamali (16:35):
And gunshots.

Eva Sheie (16:36):
Of course, because you did work in Queens.

Dr. Jamali (16:38):
Uh, in Brooklyn. Yes.

Eva Sheie (16:39):
In Brooklyn. <laugh>.

Dr. Jamali (16:39):
Yeah. Machetes into the face. Uh, seen it all, you know, gunshots, a lot of gunshots to the face, uh, neck and yeah, all those things can be busy during summer in emergency rooms.

Eva Sheie (16:54):
I bet you've seen it all.

Dr. Jamali (16:55):
Yes. And infections to severe infections from teeth going to the neck.

Eva Sheie (17:01):
Let's switch gears a little bit. Tell me about what you do outside of work.

Dr. Jamali (17:06):
Oh, son with, uh, my boy, my boy, my boy at <laugh>. All of my

Eva Sheie (17:11):
You have son?

Dr. Jamali (17:12):
Yes. Yeah, all my, uh, time goes to him. I try, uh, he's a seven year old and just try to spend as much as possible because they grow fast and they got only a few years before he stops talking to me, <laugh> and goes with his friends.

Eva Sheie (17:28):
Boy do I know how that Yeah.

Dr. Jamali (17:30):
Yes. <laugh> a teenager. So, um, yeah, we just try to play soccer with each other and take him out here and there, but that's about it really. <laugh>. And then I go to sleep.

Eva Sheie (17:42):
<laugh>, Has he been to Iran yet?

Dr. Jamali (17:43):
No, he would love to go and he keeps telling me almost once a month, he just, the culture and, uh, food and everything. So I try to educate him a little bit about it. And for example, when Iranian soccer team plays, he supports Iranian soccer team. I'm like, you don't even know <laugh>. So it's funny, but it's, it's a shame that I can't take him there because uh, at this point it's situation is not very good. I don't even dare to go back <laugh>, so, uh, oh,

Eva Sheie (18:13):
I hope that changes sometime.

Dr. Jamali (18:14):
I hope so too. It's a beautiful country. Uh, so yeah, it's a lot of culture.

Eva Sheie (18:21):
Is there anything you're looking forward to in the next year?

Dr. Jamali (18:25):
Hmm, good health and helping more patients <laugh> with jaw surgeries and implants.

Eva Sheie (18:34):
No, surgeon works alone. Everyone has a team. Can you talk about your team a little bit?

Dr. Jamali (18:39):
Sure. Um, I have a great team in the office and in the operating room. Uh, actually have been in Brooklyn, Methodist Hospital Presbyterian, and there are residents that are there that help out a lot. Uh, they're very good residents. And recently I started, uh, working in Mount Sinai West and Beth Israel Hospital, uh, fabulous oral maxillofacial surgeons, their dual degree, uh, TMD and MD degree with a great director. And, uh, it's just such a great hospital and, uh, great staff. So it's just, uh, awesome teamwork.

Eva Sheie (19:19):
Are you teaching?

Dr. Jamali (19:20):
I'm more learning from them, but, uh, here and there I say some nonsense stuff and they may learn <laugh>. So yeah, I learn a lot from residents, so, and it's good to work with others because you pick up something from someone.

Eva Sheie (19:37):
Yeah. That's what keeps us all going.

Dr. Jamali (19:39):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (19:40):
Learning from others. What would you like listeners to take away from listening to this podcast today?

Dr. Jamali (19:47):
Oh boy. I think I'm dedicated surgeon and that I really care for the patients. Every jaw surgery that I do, they have my, uh, cell phone and, um, one text away, 24 hours. I always say if I do surgery, I'm married to the patient, so I'm always available. So I just try to do my best and in an honest way. So might not be right for everyone, but hopefully for many people, <laugh>

Eva Sheie (20:21):
And I would volunteer, just that understanding what OMS surgeons do is another thing that we could take away because there's not that many of you, and it's a very unique specialty and most of us don't run into it.

Dr. Jamali (20:38):
Correct. Right.

Eva Sheie (20:39):
Unless something's really wrong.

Dr. Jamali (20:40):
Right, right, right. Not too many people know about OMFs and I think it's really underrated specialty.

Eva Sheie (20:47):
Yeah. But you're all the most chill, amazing personalities. Every single one that I meet is just kind of like you actually.

Dr. Jamali (20:59):
Okay. <laugh>

Eva Sheie (21:00):
A little bit bold and

Dr. Jamali (21:02):
Yes.

Eva Sheie (21:02):
Solid. Really solid.

Dr. Jamali (21:03):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Eva Sheie (21:05):
If someone wants to find out more about you and they're listening today, where should they look for you online?

Dr. Jamali (21:10):
Uh, I have an Instagram page and also my website at omsofny.com, so I try to put a lot of information in there, but they can find, uh, before and after pictures in RealSelf. So combination of stuff. And of course, they're welcome to come in for consult .

Eva Sheie (21:30):
And I'll link all of that in the show notes, so it's easy to find.

Dr. Jamali (21:33):
Yes. Thank you very much.

Eva Sheie (21:35):
Yeah. Thank you for joining us today.

Dr. Jamali (21:36):
Pleasure. Thank you very much.

Eva Sheie (21:41):
If you are considering making an appointment or are on your way to meet this doctor, be sure to let them know you heard them on the Meet the Doctor podcast. Check the show notes for links, including the doctor's website and Instagram to learn more. Are you a doctor or do you know a doctor who'd like to be on the Meet the Doctor podcast? Book your free recording session at Meet the Doctor podcast.com. Meet the Doctor is Made with Love in Austin, Texas and is a production of The Axis, t h e a x i s io.