New faculty join UMMC academic ranks
Published on Monday, September 15, 2025
Medical Center leadership is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.
Dr. Stephen R. Chen
Dr. Stephen R. Chen, recently an orthopaedic surgery resident and orthopaedic surgery administrative chief at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor of orthopaedic surgery in the School of Medicine.
Board-certified in orthopaedic surgery, he earned his medical degree in 2019 from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville. Previously, he worked as a program specialist for several years at the Veterans Affairs Central Office, Veterans Engineering Resource Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
As a researcher, he has contributed to approximately 30 scientific publications, three book chapters and numerous scientific presentations. He has received awards for his scholarship and research from organizations such as the International Society of the Study of the Lumbar Spine and the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society.
Chen is a member of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, AO Trauma and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
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Dr. Victor A. Fletcher
Dr. Victor A. Fletcher, recently a prosthodontist practicing in Panama City, Florida, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an associate professor of care planning and restorative sciences in the School of Dentistry.
Fletcher, who holds Bachelor of Science in geology from the University of Toronto, is also a graduate of the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Arts and Science. He earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Dentistry in 1980. He completed his residency in prosthodontics in 1989 at the Medical College of Georgia/Augusta University.
A Diplomate of the American Board of Prosthodontics, he served on the faculty of the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Dentistry and the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in Memphis. In 1995, he earned the Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Tennessee National Alumni Association.
His other professional experience includes a private practice in general dentistry in London, Ontario, Canada; and a private practice in prosthodontics in Hattiesburg, Gulfport and Boulder, Colorado. He also served as a staff dentist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Panama City.
Fletcher is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon, the National Dental Honorary Society.
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Jessica Martinez
Jessica Martinez, who recently served as an occupational therapist at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Flowood/Ridgeland, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Health Related Professions.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Mississippi, Martinez received her Bachelor of Occupational Therapy in 2002 from UMMC. In 2020, she earned the Master of Health Administration from Belhaven University in Jackson.
A registered and licensed OT, she worked for two years at Rush Foundation Hospital before joining Methodist Rehab, where she served for more than 20 years.
Martinez has training/certification in a number of areas, including as a health coach, driving rehabilitation instructor, functional nutrition informed practitioner and more.