Maggie Jeffries, MD

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Get to know Anesthesiologist Dr. Maggie Jeffries, who serves patients in Texas.

A highly-trained anesthesiologist, Dr. Jeffries is Managing Partner at her practice, Avanti Anesthesia PA in Houston, Texas. She is also Co-Owner & Medical Director of Mind Balance Infusions, a patient-first, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy clinic with a unique, holistic approach to healing.

Dr. Jeffries graduated with her medical degree from Drexel College of Medicine in 2003. She then completed her anesthesia training at Johns Hopkins University, during which she served as the Resident Member of the ACGME Residency Review Committee, chaired by Mark Warner, MD. Anesthesiology is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during, and after surgery. 

Following graduation, she became an Assistant Professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where she specialized in anesthesia for neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, and pediatrics.  During that time, she was an active contributor to diverse areas of research and is a published author in several national journals.

In private practice since 2010, Dr. Jeffries specializes in ophthalmic anesthesia in outpatient surgical centers where over 12,000 procedures are performed each year. Her breadth of experience encompasses ophthalmic blocks as well as anesthetic techniques and preoperative evaluation for cataract, vitreoretinal, strabismus, glaucoma, and oculoplastic surgeries.  

As an invited speaker both internationally and domestically, Dr. Jeffries has had the pleasure of speaking at the Hospital Moinhos de Vento in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the 34th Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology in Cancun, Mexico. She regularly speaks at the Annual Meetings of Kiawah Eye, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Ophthalmic Anesthesia Society, to name a few. Dr. Jeffries has also presented her research on the MKO (Midazolam/Ketamine/Ondansetron) Melt at the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Taking pride in providing high-quality, patient-centric care, Dr. Jeffries is Board-Certified in Anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and participates in the Maintenance of Certification program. As the certifying body for Anesthesiologists since 1938, the ABA is committed to partnering with physicians to advance lifelong learning and exceptional patient care. Its mission is to advance the highest standards of the practice of anesthesiology.

In order to stay up to date and involved in her field, Dr. Jeffries remains an active member of and contributor to numerous state and national medical societies including the Texas Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists, the Ophthalmic Anesthesia Society (Board Member and current President), the American Medical Association, the Texas Ambulatory Surgery Center Society (Board Member and current Vice-President), and the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (Ophthalmic Anesthesia committee member).

More recently, Dr. Jeffries has developed an interest in the use of Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy as a treatment for disorders like depression, PTSD, OCD, chronic pain, and more by acting on the brain’s glutamate production levels. Glutamate is a crucial messenger for brain activity. Ketamine, a classical psychedelic and anesthetic compound in wide use since 1970, boosts the production of glutamate, which in turn allows for the development of new neural pathways and the repair of old ones. These unique and improved connections enable the brain to process information and experiences in new ways, leading to rapid recovery from a broad swathe of mental health conditions

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