As a neurologist and pain management specialist, Maj. Jeanna West-Miles operates in both worlds of identifying diagnoses and providing tailored treatment for pain.
Since 2025, she has balanced both areas of expertise at the Mike O’Callaghan Military Medical Center in Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where she introduced new procedural pain treatments and training for family medicine physicians, expanding treatment options for the primarily active-duty patient population, and supporting the Air Force’s sole Level III Trauma Center.
“She arrived as the first Air Force neurologist to cross-train into pain management, bringing a host of new skills and a passion for patient centeredness,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Mary Carnduff, 99th Medical Group commander, who nominated her for the Trusted Care Hero recognition in August 2026.
As a neurologist, West-Miles maintains 24/7 on-call responsibilities for emergencies such as code strokes, seizures, acute central nervous system infection, injuries and various types of headaches. As a pain specialist, she administers the best procedural options that she or one of the handful of neurologists have identified for their patient.
West-Miles conducts procedures that range from botulinum toxin and occipital nerve block injections for headache relief to ultrasound-guided nerve hydrodissection, which minimizes nerve compression in more complex cases.
With her expertise, she has diversified pain management for the Nellis patient demographic while training about 23 resident physicians in various procedures during her time at the clinic.
West-Miles’ approach to patient care is individualized and holistic - particularly for patients who experience chronic back and neck pain, many of whom she said felt misunderstood and sought effective relief.
“Understanding that the physician is there to work with you is both empowering and necessary,” West-Miles said. “I give them clear expectations and make them aware of uncertainties …. My goal every time is optimal kindness and transparency. I do not think that those two things are ever mutually exclusive. I need my patients to be teammates with me, together, in their care.”
One of her accomplishments at MOMMC included training the pain management team on a unique regenerative therapy called cadaveric disc allograft. She performed 18 intervertebral disc allografts, resulting in an 80% average reduction in chronic lower back pain. Three patients became pain-free, said Carnduff.
Carnduff also acknowledged West-Miles’ contributions to MOMMC winning the **American Heart Association’s 2025 Get with the Guidelines**Stroke Silver award, for demonstrating outstanding clinical performance in stroke patient care.
West-Miles is a proud Health Professions Scholarship Program recipient who was commissioned as an officer in 2012 and earned her medical degree from Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
As a neuroscience major, what began as the best way to clear her premedical credits became a continuous pursuit of knowledge, benefiting her patients and colleagues alike, and bolstering readiness at MOMMC.
Q: Why choose neurology and pain management as your medical path?
A: I’m insatiably curious as a person and neurology is a dynamic, challenging and constantly shifting field. When asked whether I work a lot, I reply that I work very little, but I play all the time. Neurology also really puts the focus on the classic skills of medicine: History, exam and rapport. I am a bit old-fashioned. The medicine that I love and practice is interpersonal and hands-on.
With neurology, I could localize a problem, but then other challenges arise …. That’s what brought me to pain management. The skills of pain management are largely procedural and gorgeously diverse. Medications are useful, so are behavioral therapies, but some things are a structural issue in need of a structural solution.
The idea that, having found the problem, I could now physically reach in and help with my needles was too much to resist. Pain management also supports my curiosity as it is a rapidly advancing specialty with new procedures and cutting-edge technologies available to learn annually. The pain management skillset gives me the last piece of the puzzle I needed to practice as effectively and as joyfully as possible.
Q: What does recognition as a Trusted Care Hero mean to you personally and professionally?
A: I got into medicine because I wanted to be somebody’s hero, to help in a way that was meaningful that wasn’t just kind, supportive or friendly. Recognition as a Trusted Care Hero means, in a way, that I must have succeeded. That the small and child-like part of myself that wants to rush in and rescue people in my cape is really doing just that. I even wear a mask sometimes.
The words that really mean the most to me is “Trusted Care.” If my care is consistent, mindful, compassionate and high-quality enough to be trusted - that is the greatest accomplishment I will ever have.
Trust in a doctor is everything. It is sacred, and it is something I hold with incredible pride and obligation. This is a very precious and special way of seeing that trust known and recognized.