Dental Partners Vienna

"My name is Rick McNeely and I was born and raised in Swainsboro, GA. Growing up, I loved to play baseball, waterski at the lake, hunt, fish, and spend time with my family. After graduating from Swainsboro High School in 2010, I attended my local community college, East Georgia College, for two years. While at EGC I had the chance to serve as a representative for the student government association and gave tours of the school as a student ambassador. I then transferred to the University of...Read More Georgia to obtain my Bachelor of Science in Biology, which I received in Fall of 2015. While there, I was part of the pre-dental society and involved in Prince Avenue Baptist church collegiate ministry. I also enjoyed cheering on the Dawgs on Saturdays and playing intramural sports. I was then accepted into the Dental College of Georgia Class of 2019. During my first three years of dental school, I had the opportunity to serve on three different mission trips to Haiti. On my third mission trip to Haiti, I met my wonderful fiancé, Sydney Bush. We are now engaged to be married on December 28 th , 2019. When I was a child, I remember going to the dentist’s office for a check-up and being intrigued by all of the technology and tools. As I got older and began thinking of a future career, I shadowed various professionals and healthcare providers. After shadowing, much research, and thought I decided that the career that I was most excited about and wanted to pursue was dentistry. I determined that dentistry was an avenue by which I could help those in need and have a career to support a family. Dentistry is important to me because teeth are necessary for daily life; they are also one of the first things someone notices about a person. Good dental hygiene is also an indicator of the overall health of an individual. A good smile and teeth can not only help a person stay pain-free, but can help them to feel better about themselves and have more self-confidence. Dentistry is the type of profession that there will always be a need for, and can be practiced in the largest of cities or the smallest of rural areas. My hope has always been to return to a rural area and provide a needed service to the citizens of my community. I am excited to have this opportunity to move to Albany and begin serving the people in this area by helping take care of their dental needs." - Dr. McNeely Read Less

Dr. Joshua Jernigan was born in Alpharetta, GA and spend most of his childhood through high school in Canton, about an hour north of Atlanta. Joshua was homeschooled with his three sisters, and grew up around dentistry as his father is an orthodontist. Dr. Jernigan played basketball for Shorter University in Rome, GA, where he majored in Biology with a focus on pre-dental. After graduation, Joshua attended the Dental College of Georgia where he pursued his professional dream of becoming a ...Read Moredentist. When not practicing dentistry, Dr. Jernigan takes an avid interest in a a number of things including: attending church and small groups, playing competitive sports (particularly basketball), backpacking out on the trails, working out at CrossFit, reading fiction and manga books, going to the movies, and generally hanging out with a great group of people talking and playing board games. Though not a Southwest Georgia native, Dr. Jernigan is incredibly excited to get invested in the Albany community and help with all its dental needs! Read Less

Dr. Williams was born and raised in Sylvester and attended Worth County High School. He completed his undergraduate studies at Abraham Baldwin College in Tifton, and the University of Georgia in Athens. He then graduated in 1994 from the Medical College of Georgia with a DMD degree. It was there that he received a quintessence award for restorative dentistry. After graduation, Dr. Williams went to work for Dr. Mike Carr in Donalsonville, and in 1995 he joined Dr. Cecil Myers in Americus w...Read Morehile building a practice in Lee County. That practice which started in April 1995 has now evolved into Dental Partners of Southwest Georgia. An active deacon at First Baptist Church of Albany, Dr. Williams lives in Albany with his wife Lynn Connor Williams of Sylvania. They have three children: Maci, Matt and Kate. He has served for 10 years on the board of the HCA Hospital on Palmyra Road. He also has served as Chamber Director in Lee County, a member of the Lee County Sertoma Club, and was the Boy Scouts of America founding charter organization representative for Troop 1, Crew 1, and Pack 1. Dr. Williams was a past board member of Security Bank, and is a past trustee of Brewton Parker College. He also received a Health Care Provider of the Year award from ABAC in 2010. Dr. Williams is a golfing fanatic and loves to hunt anything that flies or swims. He likes to say that he spends all his time watching his kids grow up. Read Less

Dr. Akata Patel was born and raised in Tifton, GA. She graduated from Tift County High School in 2012. She completed her undergraduate studies from Mercer University in Macon, GA with a Bachelors of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and earned her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree at the Dental College of Georgia in Augusta, GA. Dr. Patel is happy to return to South Georgia to serve her community and treat patients with kindness, respect, and as one of the family. Dr. Patel is a mem...Read Moreber of the American Dental Association, Georgia Dental Association, and the Academy of General Dentistry. In her spare time, Dr. Patel likes to spend time making memories with her family and friends, traveling, eating sweets, and reading a good book. “A simple smile. That’s the start of opening your heart and being compassionate to others." – Dalai Lama Read Less