Omar A. Rokayak DO FACS

Summary

• Dr. Rokayak received his DO degree (2013) from VCOM-Virginia. He completed General Surgery Residency (2018) at Stony Brook-Southampton Hospital in New York. As the first civilian to complete the Air Force Special Operations Command’s (AFSOC) Assessment and Selection, he matriculated directly into AFSOC’s Special Operations Surgical Teams (SOST) as a Captain. He graduated Officer Training School (2018), joined the division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) as a Clinical Assistant Professor (2018), promoted to the rank of Major (2019), and completed his Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at UAB before joining VCU as an Assistant Professor in 2023 and promoted to Associate Professor in 2025. Dr. Rokayak is board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He has been an invited speaker to over 31 national and international engagements and academic conferences. Dr. Rokayak’s research revolves around improving trauma care delivery as well as disaster and mass casualty preparedness in both civilian and military environments. He has been Co-Investigator on 7 major grant-funded projects and currently is the Medical Director and Principal Investigator for VCU’s Military-Civilian Partnership and the MISSION ZERO Grant. In addition to being a trauma, emergency general surgery, and surgical critical care attending at VCU, Dr. Rokayak continues to serve as an Air Force Reservist and SOST surgeon. On several combat deployments, including the Afghanistan withdrawal of 2021, he led 3 separate teams responsible for mobile austere trauma surgery, critical care evacuation, and coverage of remote military installations in support of US Special Operations Forces. In recognition of his service, Dr. Rokayak has received multiple honors and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with combat device (2020), Meritorious Service Medal (2022), and Bronze Star Medal (2024).