Kassidy DesRoche, Physician Assistant student at OSU Center for Health Sciences and member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Native American Student Spotlight: Kassidy DesRoche, Physician Assistant program

Friday, October 29, 2021

Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu

In November, we will spotlighting Native American students at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences in honor of Native American Heritage Month.

Kassidy DesRoche, Physician Assistant program

Where are you from?

I am from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

What tribe/nation are you a citizen or member of?

I am a member of Chahta Yakni, which means the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

Why do you want to be a Physician Assistant?

I aspire to be a Physician Assistant because it is a career that allows me to utilize and enhance a team-based approach to medicine, while fulfilling my desire to care for and treat the health care needs of the patients within my communities. The flexibility of a PA gives me the confidence that, as the patients and the communities’ health care needs change over the years, I would have the versatility to change into different specialties to best accommodate the communities and patients within Oklahoma.

How has your time in the OSU PA program been so far?

My time in the OSU-CHS PA program so far has been rewarding. The PA curriculum is by nature challenging. The OSU-CHS PA program has integrated the curriculum together in a way that has provided me a lot of personal growth, confidence in my abilities, and has helped me recognize my potential as a future Physician Assistant.

How has being Native American impacted your life or your decision to go into healthcare?

My Native American culture has helped shape me into the individual I have become and continue to strive to be. It has taught me the importance of working together to better the lives of the people within your communities. As a Physician Assistant I have the unique opportunity to help preserve Native American history as well as my Choctaw culture by providing medical care, education, and support to the current and future generations of Native Americans.