DeShana Collett
Associate Professor, College of Health Sciences
For more than ten years, Dr. DeShana Collett (she/her) has been committed to academic and professional excellence within the Department of Physician Assistant Studies, the institution, and professionally. Dr. Collett teaches in the didactic curriculum. Currently, she is the course director for the Clinical Methods and Patient Evaluation and Management courses. She has previously held long-term national membership in the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) Inclusion & Diversity Council and Chaired the PAEA Cultural Competency Committee for several years. Dr. Collett co-created and facilitated the Minority Faculty Leadership Pando™ workshop for PAEA. Dr. Collett was a 2016 Fellow for the Bluegrass Consortium Academic Leadership Academy and currently Co-Chairs the Unconscious Bias Student Subcommittee, and the African, African American, Native American Affinity Group at the University. Additionally, Dr. Collett serves as an accreditations site visitor for the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant(ARC-PA).
A key aspect of her commitment and leadership is creating and maintaining a vision that allows for opportunities and long-term growth. Her leadership has been instrumental in influencing the outcomes of her organizational unit. While serving in the role of Director of Admissions and Recruitment, she was instrumental in the development and implementation of holistic admissions to promote diversity and inclusion in the physician assistant program. Additionally, while serving in the role of Director of Accreditation, she created and established a foundational structure that was essential for the implementation of a systematic evaluation review process of program outcomes.
Dr. Collett earned her bachelor of science, master of science and doctor of philosophy, all from the University of Kentucky. She has more than 15 years of clinical experience in family medicine, and she has a specific interest in women’s health. Her research interest is in the area of health and healthcare disparities, with a focus in the areas of clinical integration of genomics and diversity in precision medicine.
Spotlight: DeShana Collett, Member of DEI Leadership Team
"We know that this work is never going to stop. The events that have happened and are currently occurring in the political and social realms are traumatic. I can’t sit back and say, 'We don’t have a solution, so we’ll just move on.' It’s my duty to help create those solutions; it’s my duty to help my community. To me, it’s not an option or even a second thought. We all must become JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) advocates and allies."