Captain Paulette Cazares, MD, MPH

US Navy

Secretary, 2023 – 2025

A native of New Jersey, Captain Cazares attended Boston College for her undergraduate studies and then Drexel University for the first half of a Masters in Public Health (MPH). She was then commissioned in the US Navy and attended Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) where she graduated with her medical degree in 2004. She completed a Psychiatry Internship at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) in 2005 and then went on to be the General Medical Officer onboard the USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) from 2005-2007, deploying twice in two years.

Following this operational tour, she completed training in Psychiatry at the National Naval Medical Center via the National Capital Consortium Psychiatry Residency Program. During that time, she served as the Navy Chief Resident and completed her MPH at Drexel University.

After a tour at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune (NHCL), Dr. Cazares transferred back to NMCSD in 2013. She has served as the Chair of the Provider Wellness Committee, Department Head for SARP/OASIS, and in the Spring of 2016, she was named the Associate Director of Women’s Mental Health. In that role, she piloted the Department of Defense’s 1^st Women’s Mental Health program, including addition of a treatment track at OASIS for Sexual Trauma. This work led to the formal creation of a Women’s Mental Health sub-community, under the Clinical Community umbrella at BUMED.

In 2017, she was selected as the NMCSD Associate Director for Mental Health (DMH), the role in which she currently serves. She served as the inaugural Chair of the Women’s Health Clinical Community for Navy Medicine, which has evolved under her leadership into the Female Force Readiness Clinical Community. During that time, she led creation of the Comprehensive Women’s Health Clinic pilot, the 1^st of its kind within the DoD to focus multi-disciplinary care on the needs of Active duty servicewomen. In her current role as the Associate DMH, she manages programs and personnel for the DMH at NMCSD.

She was meritoriously selected for Captain in April 2019. She is on USU faculty, has lectured nationally, is engaged in research, and has published. She is the NMCSD Liaison to the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) where she serves on the Executive Board of Directors, as the Secretary. During her previous 2 terms on the Board, she led creation of the newly established Active Duty and Veterans Chapter of AMWA.

Dr. Cazares’ personal awards include the MHS Navy Senior Female Physician Leadership Award, Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (3 awards), a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, recognition as a NMCSD Associate Master Clinician and numerous other unit awards. She is board certified in General Psychiatry and an Assistant Professor at USUHS.